An Alternative Path
by Zessei
Summary: AU: Kakashi thinks his team might not be so ready for the Chunnin exams after all. Permanent Hiatus.
1. Chapter 1

-1**An Arduous Journey**

**Author's note:** After reading quite a few Naruto fanfics, quite a few amazing ones actually, I decided to start my own. I don't know if the idea has been done before, I certainly haven't run across it, however the story should be different from anything you've read before, or my name is Alfred (Which it isn't.)

**IMPORTANT: **This story is AU. That means ALTERNATE UNIVERSE. That means I can do whatever the hell I want and you have to suck it up and deal.

**Pairings: **I don't know yet. Feel free to suggest things but I don't do slash, yuri, yaoi, or harems. I will do love triangles. This story will not be about pairings though.

BTW: I don't own Naruto!

**The Chunin Exams - Kakashi's Hesitance!**

Two weeks after the Wave mission and Kakashi was at his wit's end. He wanted to know what the hell had happened to his team. Where was the excellent teamwork that lead them to defeat such strong opponents. Where was the concern for each other? Where was the determination? It was as though returning to Konoha had brought back their bad habits threefold.

Sakura was even more determined to get Sasuke to notice her. Kakashi had thought she would finally get serious about becoming a ninja after having felt so useless in the Land of Waves, but no, one run in with Ino and she had forgotten all about that. She also seemed even more determined to bring down Naruto than ever before.

Speaking of Naruto, the kid had actually started to quiet down a little a ways into their walk back. Oh sure he still _talked_, Kakashi didn't think a gag could muffle him, but he wasn't as loud, or annoying. As soon as they walked in those gates though an errant remark from a passer-by had sent Naruto into a shouting frenzy. Kakashi just didn't know what to do about Naruto, He had more potential than anyone he had seen before, and more determination, but he was always undermining his own talents by his actions. Not to mention that the fighting with Sasuke had gotten even worse, if that was possible.

And Sasuke, here Kakashi had to refrain from banging his head into the memorial stone he was currently kneeling in front of. Sasuke had become even more withdrawn. It might not seem that way to the casual observer but Kakashi could see it. If Kakashi couldn't get Sasuke to open up and let go of his revenge, well Kakashi feared that Sasuke would do something drastic, and that wouldn't bode well for anyone. At that moment Kakashi actually wondered in Sasuke awakening his bloodline wasn't more of a curse than a blessing.

"ETERNAL RIVAL! I FOUND YOU!" The sudden loud scream jarred Kakashi from his thoughts and nearly caused him to jump, nearly. Only years of training prevented it. How a six foot tall green spandex wearing overly loud crazy could sneak up on him would forever be a mystery, no matter how many times it happened.

"Ah, did you say something?" Kakashi said as he stood, flipping open one of his treasured Icha Icha Paradise books.

"How unbearably hip of you rival!" Maito Gai cried pointing a finger at the relaxed looking jounin. "That does not matter, I have simply come to tell you that no matter how bright the flames of youth might shine in your students those flames of my students shall always be brighter. My students will prevail over yours in the Chunin exam or I shall do ONE HUNDRED laps around Konoha's walls on my hands!" He finished off his exuberant, and loud, speech with a thumbs up and a scarily bright student.

"Oh, is it time for the Chunin exams already? I'd forgotten." Kakashi lazily flipped a page, not taking his eye off the book.

"I will not be fooled by that hip attitude rival!" Suddenly Gai seemed to realize the time. "Ah! I am late! NO! I don't wish to become unyouthful as my rival!" He then ran off, kicking up a dust trail behind him.

Kakashi sighed as he lowered his book, he had not seen a word after Gai had mentioned the chunin exams. The truth was he had forgotten about that. Damn. If he had to be perfectly honest, he didn't think his students were ready. Strength wise he thought they would be okay. After all Naruto had the Kyuubi and Sasuke had his pride, which while it might not keep him happy it would force him to become strong. Sakura he figured would drag through on the coattails of the others. But they just didn't have the proper attitude.

Besides, he didn't want his students to drag themselves to the finish line by the skin of their teeth. He wanted them to blow everyone else out of the water.

With another sigh Kakashi put his book away and turned to the Hokage's tower. He had to tell the Hokage that his team wouldn't be participating in the exams, and request a mission to last at least until the beginnings of the exam. Preferably one far from Konoha.

---

"Where is Kakashi?" The Hokage asked, only mildly perturbed as he had grown accustomed to the jounin's habitually tardiness. No one in the room answered him. He supposed that was to be expected. "Well we might as well start…" He was cut off as the door opened, admitting a one-eyed shinobi into the Hokage's office.

"Sorry I'm late." Although honestly he had only found out about the meeting once he'd arrived, those messenger chunin were getting rusty. "I left my refrigerator on and had to go back to turn it off." Nobody commented on the outrageousness of this excuse because, really, what would they say?

"That's alright. Let's get down to business though." He turned to address the others in the room as well. "Kurenai, Asuma, Kakashi, do any of you believe your genin team ready to participate in the chunin selection exams?"

"I, Yuuhi Kurenei, jounin sensei of squad eight nominate my team of Inuzuka Kiba, Aburame Shino, and Hyuuga Hinata to take the chunin exams." She had stepped forward as she had begun to talk and now stepped back as she finished.

"I, Sarutobi Asuma, jounin sensei of squad ten nominate my team to take the exams." He hadn't even bothered to take the cigarette out of his mouth.

There was a small lull as everyone waited for Kakashi to speak. Finally the Sandaime got tired of the silence and asked, "And you Kakashi? What of your team?"

"I…" Kakashi stopped and really thought about what he was going to do. He never thought either Kurenai or Asuma would nominate their teams. In fact he had banked on it for explaining his decision to his team. Now though… What if they hated him? What if they thought he was would them back? Well he was kinda holding them back but he had a damn good reason. In the end he had to think about what would be best for his team, so taking a deep breath he continued on. "I do not nominate my squad, squad seven for the chunin exams.

The silence that met his reply was deafening.

**Author's Note Reprise: **First chapter done. Yes it is short. No, they won't all be like this. The next chapter should be two to three times this length. This was just to set up the plot.

PREVIEW:

"Why the hell won't you at least let us try Kakashi-sensei!" Naruto screamed, his thoughts echoed on the faces of his teamates.

"Because if you took the exam right now, you'd all fail, miserably."

**REVIEW OR I'LL EAT YOU! RAWGH!**


	2. Chapter 2

-1**An Alternative Path**

**Author's note:** Second chapter. If you think the characters of OOC, I'm sorry. But the fact is that we aren't shown much of Kakashi's character and sometimes characters have to be tweaked to fit the plot. They are as true to the manga as I can make them however.

**IMPORTANT: **This story is AU. That means ALTERNATE UNIVERSE. That means I can do whatever the hell I want and you have to suck it up and deal.

**Pairings: **Hehehe. Pairings are a secret. This story is not about romance though so if you came for that tough luck. I don't write romance well anyway so it's better this way trust me. Mostly there will just be friendship. Feel free to suggest things if you want but I may not use your idea. I will however consider it.

BTW: I don't own Naruto!

**Result's of a Decision - Beginning of a Mission**

Telling the Hokage had been a lot easier than telling his team. Sandaime had simply nodded his head and said that he had expected that. Later after the other's were leaving though he had called Kakashi back.

"Care to tell me why you think they are so unready?" He took a lazy puff on his pipe.

"Honestly, they suck." You could hear a pin drop.

"If they are so bad why did you pass them into genin?" Hokage asked.

"Because, they have a lot of potential to not suck."

"I see." It was obvious though that he didn't.

"Look, Hokage-sama, those three are incredibly gifted, but they have the entirely wrong mentality. At the moment the one closest to being acceptable is Naruto. He at least understands that you need to help people and be helped in return sometimes. Sasuke is determined to move through life alone, eventually getting himself killed by his brother no doubt. And Sakura is simply determined to get Sasuke." Kakashi sighed and ran a hand through his silver hair.

"Sir, sometimes I think I'm not able enough to teach them. I don't know how to heal the pain in their hearts. Sakura has always believed herself weaker, or uglier, or not as smart as those around her, and it eventually led to her creating what I believe to be a personality that is not wholly true to herself. Sasuke was betrayed so badly it ripped his world out from under him. Now he lives for revenge and it is a very shallow sort of life. And Naruto, Naruto has the deepest scars of all!" He was almost screaming at the end of his speech. All of his insecurities were beginning to come out and her couldn't stop them.

"Naruto has had it tough, true." The Hokage said mildly.

"Tough? Tough! He has had it abysmally. I was there remember, I saw many of the things that happened to him. Hell I STOPPED many of the assassination attempts. I was there, dammit. But there is nothing I can do to make it better for him, for any of them."

"Kakashi, have you ever thought that maybe it isn't your job to make it better? It is simply your job to make _them _better."

That was the end of the conversation, and it was like an awakening for Kakashi. He'd been so concerned with making it better. Boosting Sakura's confidence, showing Naruto he had worth, guiding Sasuke to a better path than revenge. He'd been so concerned with this that he'd neglected improving their skills. He always thought he had to heal their individual wounds and get them to work as a team first. But maybe if he trained them first, the rest would happen on it's own.

It was worth a try.

"Thank you Hokage-sama for your advice." Kakashi nodded his head in a semblance of a bow.

"Kakashi, it's wonderful that you care about them, but you have to remember, they are shinobi now. They aren't children anymore, and you can't keep treating them as such, even if you really want to." He leaned back a closed his eyes, suddenly looking much more tired than he had before. "I know it's hard, believe me, I know. But they won't be able to grow and change if you keep coddling them."

"Right." And he was right, things were going to have to change, starting with him.

---

Surprisingly it had been easy to get them out of Konoha. In fact they each seemed eager to leave. Well it wasn't that surprising with Naruto.

They had been given a simple currier mission. They were to take a message to a town. In all the mission should take about a week. Perfect.

They had been walking along silently, even Naruto who seemed to be regrouping from his earlier defeat at starting a conversation when suddenly Sakura decided to speak up.

"Um, Kakashi-sensei? Why are we taking this mission so close to the chunin exam start?" While Sakura really didn't want to participate she felt sure that her team would still be nominated, after all they had Sasuke, right? 'HELL YEAH WE DO!' screamed her inner self. Plus Naruto was there to and no matter how much he annoyed her she had to admit that he was pretty strong. 'SASUKE-KUN IS STILL STRONGER THOUGH! YEAH!'

Kakashi had been really hoping that no one would ask that.

"You don't have to worry about that." Was all he said as he continued walking, smut book in hand.

"Why not?" asked Sasuke. Naruto was being strangely silent.

"Because, you are not entered to take the exam." He was met with silence. And then suddenly:

"Why the hell won't you at least let us try Kakashi-sensei!" Naruto screamed, his thoughts echoed on the faces of his teamates.

"Because if you took the exam right now, you'd all fail, miserably." He turned a page in his book and let out a small giggle, although in truth he wasn't reading his book at all. "Actually, you might even die." Sakura paled slightly but neither of the boys seemed affected.

"Che, yeah right! I'm gonna be Hokage some day, I would never die in some dumb chunin exam." Naruto crossed his arms and stuck his nose in the air. Eyes closed in a huffy pout he didn't see the large root in the road and tripped flat on his face.

"Dobe." Was the only remark made.

"I'm going to train you. I'm going to train you hard. This will be the most intense training of your lives, and when you're through with it and you enter the chunin exams you'll blow the rest away." Kakashi said.

"But why don't you think we're ready now?" Naruto whined from his position on the ground.

"You don't have the attitudes to become chunin. I won't tell you what exactly is off about each of your personalities, that's something you have to figure out for yourself, but I will do this much, I will always be ready to help you should you ask for it."

"Why won't you tell us?" Sakura asked.

"If I told you, it would have no meaning. There are some things we have to learn on our own, through experience. Now, to how I'll be training you." The all perked up at this. Kakashi had done very little training with them so far, they all knew it, and they all resented it a bit too.

"Sakura, your chakra control is amazing. In fact it's better than mine." Sakura beamed until she heard Sasuke scoff behind her. "I think the best choices for you would be genjutsu and medic-jutsu. We will also worked on your taijutsu as it is sorely lacking. Ninjutsu we'll leave alone for the time being. Now I don't actually know much medic-jutsu but I'm sure we can find you some scrolls and someone at the hospital should be willing to tutor you. We will have to work hard on your chakra capacity though.

"Now, Sasuke. The Sharingan is best suited for taijutsu and genjutsu specialists. Since we have Sakura to be our genjutsu specialist you'll be focusing on taijutsu. I also want to teach you some close combat ninjutsu. We will also be working on your chakra control and capacity."

"Naruto… you have some of the most massive chakra reserves I've ever heard of and your stamina is amazing. You obviously do well with very chakra demanding jutsu, like the Kage Bunshin. I'm going to teach you blitz tactics. You'll be hitting the enemy from near and far with heavy blows. We are going to be working massively on your chakra control, as currently, your's sucks. I'm also going to teach you a taijutsu style that focuses on heavily damaging the enemy. Unfortunately this style leaves you open a lot for counter attacks but that shouldn't be a problem for you. We will also be working on ninjutsu that can hit from far away. They'll be some of my most draining techniques so you'll have to prepare yourself for probably chakra exhaustion."

"Aside from that you will all be learning tactics, basic weapons, and stealth." Suddenly Naruto interrupted.

"I already know stealth. I learned that ages ago!" Naruto cried.

"Yeah right you baka. You call loud, obnoxious and orange stealthy?" Sakura commented. 'YEAH SERIOUSLY?! WHO'S HE THINK HE'S KIDDING!' Inner Sakura was giving him a thumbs down.

Suddenly Naruto disappeared into the forest. It was as though he was there one minute and gone the next. Sakura couldn't even detect his chakra.

"What just happened!"

"Ah, I forgot." Kakashi smiled under his mask. " Naruto used to be able to give the ANBU quite a workout trying to find him sometimes. Naruto is actually quite adept at not being found if he doesn't want to be. In fact sometimes even the Hokage has trouble locating him."

"Where did he learn that!" Sakura gasped. Sasuke grunted his agreement with a look of annoyance.

"Hmm, I don't know. We'd always assumed he taught it to himself. You have to remember that Naruto was always doing pranks. His pranks wouldn't have worked if he hadn't been stealthy." Kakashi was scanning the forest with his eyes and his chakra, unsurprised when he couldn't really detect Naruto with either. He knew if he looked hard enough he could find Naruto, but he really didn't feel like it, Naruto would come out soon enough.

"Who's we?" Sasuke snapped.

"Me, the other ANBU, Iruka, and the Hokage." Suddenly Kakashi detected a rise in chakra levels above him and he looked up. "Ah, there you are Naruto." Naruto dropped down from the leafy canopy.

"Jeez, you didn't even come looking for me, how boring." Naruto pouted.

"I figured I wouldn't be able to find you without putting a lot of effort into it, so why bother?" Kakashi smiled at him. "You came out anyways." Naruto just pouted more and crossed his arms over his chest.

"Dobe, who taught you stealth?" Sasuke ground out between clenched teeth. He couldn't believe there was an aspect of being a shinobi that Naruto knew and he didn't.

"Eh, no one really. I mean I used to watch the ANBU a lot, and the Hokage when he would sneak off from paperwork to eat ramen with me. I just kinda made it into a game, right? See how many people you can sneak by. Someone catches you, you lose. I was really bad at it at first and used to get yelled at for being sneaky, but after a while I kinda got the hang of it." Naruto grinned widely and ducked a hand behind his head, happy he could finally impress them with something.

"The Hokage sneaks away from his work?" Sakura asked. She knew she should probably be asking about something else but she didn't know where to even begin and this had just popped out.

"Ehh? Oh yeah, he does it all the time. Sometimes he'll be sitting there looking like he's working but he's really not. Sometimes he even sleeps. He can sleep with his eyes open you know." Naruto waved his hand around like it was unimportant. Like he didn't know some of the most potentially damaging secrets of the most powerful man in their village. "In fact when I was little he would sometimes use a Kage Bunshin so he could go play with me."

Neither Sasuke nor Sakura knew how to react to the fact that Naruto used to play with the Hokage.

"As fascinating as this is, we need to continue walking. Tomorrow we will begin training. Sasuke and Naruto will start on control. Sakura you'll be working on your chakra reserves. I need to warn you now, you will become exhausted, you will push yourselves beyond anything you thought possible, you will give me 120 percent of your hard work, and you will not complain. Remember you're shinobi, I think it's time you started acting like it." With that he started walking done the path again.

The spent the rest of that day in silence. Sasuke quietly steaming. Naruto petulantly pouting. Sakura thinking how glad she was that she didn't have to take the test. And Kakashi hoping he wasn't making a huge mistake.

**---**

They were woken the next day at five in the morning by a shrill whistle. Sasuke jerked up with a kunai in his hand, Sakura opened her eyes, sat up, and then collapsed back into bed. Naruto's reaction however was far more humorous. He tried to jump to his feet only to get tangled up in his sleeping bag and ended up face first in the dust, mumbling incoherently.

Kakashi smiled at his genins the sort of smile that made you think nothing good was about to happen. "Rise and shine. We have a long day of training ahead of us!"

Sasuke set his kunai away. Sakura groaned and sat up again. Naruto however cursed as he wiggled out of his sleeping bag before whirling on Kakashi.

"Hey, what's the big idea Kakashi-sensei! It's five in the morning!" He pointed an accusing finger in Kakashi's direction.

"I know. The perfect time to begin training." Kakashi said happily.

"What! Are you crazy or something! It's the perfect time to be sleeping!" Naruto screamed scaring the bird's out of the trees that surrounded the clearing.

"Naruto I said no complaining yesterday. You have to realize that training isn't something you can do half-assed. Now clean up and eat something. I expect you ready to begin training in fifteen minutes." Grumbling met his announcement but they all moved to get ready.

Sakura was wondering why they had to get up so early. She'd never gotten up this early before, and they were expected to begin training right after getting up? Sakura wondered if her sensei had been replaced by another ninja spy or something. 'I BET HE WAS REPLACED! PERVERT-SENSEI HATES WORKING!' Inner Sakura was screaming.

Sasuke was annoyed. Did Kakashi-sensei think he never got up early? He got up at 5 a.m. every morning when they were in Konoha.

Naruto was wishing they had ramen. How was he expected to train if he didn't have ramen!

Fifteen and a half minutes later they were all standing in front of Kakashi, although none of them looked happy about it.

"Good. Now Sakura I want you to go climb up that tree," He pointed to a fifty foot tall oak. "thirty times without stopping." Sakura paled, she'd only ever had to climb ten times in a row, and that was exhausting. "Sasuke you can join her on the neighboring tree, except for you I want fifty times." Sasuke immediately frowned. He already knew how to do that. "Before either of you ask this will help you refine you control and build your reserves."

"How will it build our reserves Kakashi-sensei?" Sakura asked, truly curious. It would be great if she could build her reserves up to something closer to Sasuke and Naruto. Well maybe only closer to Sasuke. Naruto it seemed was too far beyond realm of possibilities.

"Chakra is just like a muscle. The more you use a muscle the stronger that muscle gets. The more you use your chakra the stronger, and greater, your chakra gets. Understand?" Both Sasuke and Sakura nodded, although Sasuke didn't look happy.

"What about me? Will I be climbing trees too?" Naruto whined.

"No, I have something special for you. The fact is tree climbing builds up reserves faster than it does control, and honestly the last thing you need is more chakra. You'll be doing the leaf curling training."

"The leaf what?" Naruto looked very confused.

"Leaf curling is very difficult because it requires a more precise amount of chakra than tree climbing does. Not to mention a leaf is smaller so you have to put your chakra over a smaller surface. You take a leaf," He plucked a bright green leaf from a nearby tree and laid it flat over his palm. "and then you spread your chakra in a very thin layer over it before curling your chakra upwards." He demonstrated and the leaf suddenly curled in a small tube in his hand. "Use too much and you'll either burn or rip the leaf, too little and nothing will happen. Not only do you have to put chakra on the leaf but once on there you have to move it."

Naruto frowned. He knew this would be very difficult for him. He had a very hard time using only a little bit of chakra. It's why he couldn't do a normal bunshin to save his life. He picked up a leaf and tried to do what Kakashi did only to have the leaf turn into shreds in his hand.

"Keep trying Naruto. I know you can do this." Kakashi then ushered Sakura and Sasuke over to the trees he'd pointed out earlier. Setting them at it Kakashi leaned against another tree where he could watch the progress of all three genin. Flipping out his book he watched as Naruto continued to alternately shred and burn leaves and Sasuke and Sakura walk slowly and unsteadily up trees. He sighed to himself a little. This was going to be a very long week.

**Author's Note Reprise: **Yes, the Kakashi OOC abounds. I'm sorry. But honestly I see him as the type of person to get very serious about things once he sets his mind to it. Do not expect another chapter out so soon. Chapter two was already mostly written by the time I put one up however chapter three has only been outlined.

PREVIEW:

"Alright, I'll help you out Kakashi, but since it's a favor you have to do something for me." Red eyes gleamed predatorily at him and Kakashi had to remind himself that it was for the good of his students.

**REVIEW OR I'LL EAT YOU! RAWGH!**


	3. Chapter 3

-1**An Alternative Path**

**Repost Note: **I misspelled a couple of things so I reposted the chapter. Nothing has changed except spelling.

**Author's note:** Third chapter. I just want to say, Holy crap you people actually like my story? 33 Reviews, 21 Faves and 56 Alerts? You people rock. Seriously. You motivate me to write more of this like you wouldn't believe. In fact I tried to get this chapter up yesterday but two parties and work had me unable to finish it. The next chapter will be up sometimes between next Wednesday and next Saturday. Hopefully closer to Wednesday.

**IMPORTANT: **This story is AU. That means ALTERNATE UNIVERSE. That means I can do whatever the hell I want and you have to suck it up and deal.

**Pairings: **Jeez, some of you people are serious about your pairings. I've even gotten some P.M.s about it. I wish to reiterate, FRIENDSHIP is the strongest influence in my manga. The romance will typically be the 'squint hard to find it' kind.

BTW: I don't own Naruto!

**Return to Konoha - Asking of Favors**

Naruto had quickly gained a new hate for small green leaves. After nine days he still could not get the damn things to curl. Sure he could now get his chakra to coat the leaf without causing the leaf to self-destruct but that wasn't the point. He'd complained days ago to Kakashi, who had then told him to think about how Naruto moves his chakra in preparation to do a jutsu. When Naruto had told him that he had never had to think how to move his chakra, it just happened, Kakashi had been shocked.

Kakashi then found himself wondering if Naruto was a prodigy or an idiot, watching Naruto light another leaf on fire from frustration he decided on idiot.

Luckily after a dropping off the message Kakashi had them stop for a couple of days at a river. Kakashi figured Naruto needed a break and the other two were ready as well to learn water walking. Sakura only fell in once. Sasuke seven times. Naruto however fell in more times than Kakashi cared to count.

Tomorrow they would be returning to Konoha though. And Kakashi was seriously considering taking another mission and leaving right away. There was one thing Kakashi had learned from their trip, besides never leave Naruto unsupervised around anything even remotely flammable, all three of them did a lot better the further they were from Konoha.

Sakura had put so much effort into her training that she had completely surprised Kakashi by tripling her chakra reserves. It still wasn't as much as even Sasuke but the level of improvement was clear. She tended to laugh more when Naruto pulled a prank or told a joke than she had in Konoha. She was less desperate for Sasuke's attention as well. Kakashi figured that away from everyone else in Konoha Sakura felt like she could just be herself more.

Sasuke had made some real progress too. Although his chakra reserves didn't triple like Sakura's there was a fair level of improvement. His control was better too. What was most impressive was his stealth now. He seemed to take Naruto's mastery of the subject as a direct challenge. While not as good as his teammate still he was good enough to fool probably any chunin. The greatest improvement was to his personality. He brooded less, smiled more, and would actually hold a decent conversation with Naruto and Sakura. Well, sorta decent when it came to Naruto, insults were still thrown.

Outwardly Naruto improved the least, which was really troubling Kakashi. Kakashi knew Naruto had the determination and the strength to become great, it would be a shame if his lack of control held him back. Naruto was growing more and more frustrated as well. Why couldn't he get that damn leaf to curl? Kakashi had set him on another control task, which involved surrounding small pieces of paper and sharpening the chakra until it could slice through anything the paper was thrown at, but still Naruto would return to the leaves trying desperately to get it to work. At least Naruto was a little quieter out of the village and more focused though.

Yes, Kakashi thought, Konoha was no good for them. Somehow once away from their various demons, so to speak, they each became a little better, and that translated to the team being a lot better.

---

Walking through the gates of Konoha Kakashi was sorely tempted to bang his head into the ground. Already things were beginning to unravel. Sighing he dismissed his team and then wondered off in the direction of the Hokage Tower. He would convince the Hokage to allow him to take his genin on a training expedition.

Once at the tower though he was forced to wait. And wait. And then wait some more. Kakashi really hated waiting. It was him who was suppose to be making people wait, not the other way around. It didn't let any of his irritation show however as he opened up his copy of Icha Icha Paradise.

Finally, finally, he was admitted into the Hokage's office. He offered a one-eyed glare to the man in overly bright robes before coming to stand in front of a large desk over run with paperwork.

"I'm here to give my report sir." Kakashi noticed that the Hokage looked even more tired than he had ten days ago. In fact, he looked exhausted.

"Right. You were gone a little longer than expected. I'd expected you back three days ago." He sighed as he shuffled papers around, looking for the file on the delivery mission so he could mark it as successfully completed.

"Sorry sir. We were attacked by a swarm of rabbits."

"Rabbits Kakashi? Honestly." He sighed again, louder this time, as he pulled the correct file expertly from the bottom of a tall stack, not disturbing the other files in the least. "I can't put that in the file, why were you really late?"

"…I decided to delay our return so that I could train them some, away from the village." Kakashi put a small amount of emphasis on the last part.

"Hmm, I see, and what kind of training do they have to do out there that they can't do here in Konoha?" The Hokage took a deep puff on his pipe before he realized that it was unlit. Frowning he fiddled with lighting it while Kakashi give his answer.

"Fewer distractions out there."

"Ah, well tell me, what did they learn while they were not being distracted?"

"Sakura has improved greatly. Her control is a bit better, her reserves have increased exponentially, although she still hasn't caught up to Sasuke, and she's getting better at concealing herself. Sasuke has gained a decent measure of control, increased his reserves a bit and he has improved greatly when it comes to stealth. Naruto however…" He frowned slightly thinking of Naruto's chakra control problems.

"What about Naruto?" the Hokage asked when it seemed Kakashi wasn't going to continue.

"Naruto is having trouble. I didn't bother to work on his reserves or stealth, as he honestly doesn't need it, and instead focused on control. He's getting better at pushing a precise amount of chakra out of his body, but he can't seem to move it once it's there. I gave him the leaf curling exercise."

"Let me guess, he can't get the leaf to curl?"

"No sir. I gave him the paper knife exercise instead when I felt he couldn't learn anything more from the other one. He still has not given up though."

"And he won't. Naruto will try until he can do it, he will never give up. That's what makes him a great ninja."

"Of course Hokage-sama." Kakashi nodded his head. "I would like to request leave so that I can take my team outside the village for training for a month."

"I'm afraid I can't do that." Kakashi was a little surprised, he had expected the Hokage to agree right away. "Bad things are happening Kakashi, and I need every shinobi I can spare here in Konoha. We had spies get into the village using the chunin exams as a cover."

"What village?" Kakashi stood straight backed, this was a serious problem.

"Originally, ours." The Hokage seemed to age ten years in front of Kakashi's eyes, err eye. "Orochimaru is back. We don't know what he wants, but it can't be anything good. He came in with two others disguised as Grass nin. I figure he's going to use the confusion of the chunin exams to launch an attack on Konoha. You see why I need you to stay here?"

"Of course. I'll just have to give them more training, that way they won't have time to get distracted." He smiled, this was going to be the training from hell.

---

The first thing Kakashi had to do was find Sakura some tutors. If they were going to be here in Konoha after all he might as well make sure one of them would benefit from it.

The medic training had been easy. He'd simply gone to the hospital and intimidated some chunin med-nin into letting Sakura come every morning a learn from her. Piece of cake.

Genjutsu was harder. At first Kakashi had planned to train her in it himself, and then he realized, all he knew were high level genjutsu that he'd copied from others. That wouldn't work. Unfortunately as genjutsu required a great deal of chakra control and study to be effective not many knew enough about it to be a good teacher, except one.

Yuuhi Kurenai.

Unfortunately, Kurenai hated him.

---

Tracking her down wasn't too hard. He found her next to a depressed looking Anko in a dango shop.

"Anko-chan don't worry," she was saying. "The Leaf shinobi are the best in the field. He won't get away again."

"Exactly, he was a Leaf shinobi and he was one of the best leaf shinobi!" Anko made a broad gesture with the stick of dango in her hand.

"Yes, but he was never the best." Kurenai replied as she took a small sip of her tea.

"Excuse me, sorry to interrupt." Both women whirled to face him. He saw that Anko had reached for a weapon. The two women had been too rapt up in their disscussion to notice him coming up behind them.

"Kakashi-san, what are you doing here?" Kurenai had composed herself first.

"Ah, well I need a favor." The silver-haired man replied scratching the side of his face sheepishly.

Suspicious eyes narrowed at him. "What kind of favor, Kakashi?"

"Heh, well you know my student, Haruno Sakura?" At her nod he continued. "I think she would be perfect for learning genjutsu."

"Yes. When I was reviewing the genin candidates I'd suggested that she be on my team. The Hokage apparently thought differently." She didn't sound bitter about it at all. Kakashi knew that she had grown close with her own team over the short amount of time they had been together.

"Apparently." Kakashi knew only the tradition of putting the best (Sakura and Sasuke) with the worst (Naruto) was what had gotten Sakura put under him. Otherwise she probably would have been trained by Kurenai. "I don't have the ability however to train her in beginning genjutsu."

"So you want me to do it?"

"Yes."

"I have my own students I need to train. What makes you think I have to time to do this?" Kurenai asked him.

"Hinata and Kiba are in the hospital, recovering from the chunin exams. Kiba's broken leg will take at least six weeks to heal, and the poison that damaged Hinata's lungs prevent her from doing any training for the next three to four weeks. Shino may have made it to the finals but I'm sure he's training with his family. As jounin instructors aren't allowed to take mission while their students are taking the exam you have free time."

"Why do you know all that?" She thought she detected a tone of superiority in his voice when he was talking about what happened to her students and it didn't make her happy.

"Obtaining the proper knowledge beforehand is half the battle for a shinobi." Kakashi smirked at Kurenai, you could see it even through his mask.

"Alright, I'll help you out Kakashi, but since it's a favor you have to do something for me." Red eyes gleamed predatorily at him and Kakashi had to remind himself that it was for the good of his students.

"Thas right, Kure-chan! Show him yous won'ts be pushed around." Anko said drunkenly from her position besides Kurenai. It seemed she'd been using Kurenai's distraction with Kakashi to begin drinking, even if it wasn't even past three in the afternoon.

"What do you want?" Kakashi ignored the drunken Anko.

"Heh heh heh." It was probably the scariest thing Kakashi had ever heard. He shivered a little in fright. "For one month, the length of time I'll be training _your_ student you can't read those perverted little books around me or any of the other women in the village. If I catch you reading it around _any_ female I get to take it, for a week."

Kakashi almost said no. He almost just got up and left saying forget it. But the little bit of pride he actually had in his students prevented him from doing so. Thus with the distinct feeling that he was making a deal with the devil he nodded his head, telling himself it was lucky she didn't take the books from him completely, (she would have though if she thought she could).

---

While Kakashi was busy arranging for Sakura's training Naruto was walking to the hot springs. His apartment water heater never seemed to work, no matter how many times he complained to the super, so he usually just took a bath at the local hot spring.

He held a leaf and one hand and his bag of bath things and clean clothes in another. He was still working on the training exercise he'd been given earlier. He'd tried the paper knife exercise and had gotten it right away. Kakashi hadn't looked impressed though, he'd just nodded and said 'I thought so.' He'd been told to keep working at it and try to make it sharper and stronger but Naruto ignored that, instead returning to the leaves.

Suddenly he was brought from his thoughts by a strange sound. He couldn't figure out what it was. Finally he realized it was coming from around the side of the bath house.

Walking around the wall of the building he was met with a strange sight. An old man with incredibly bad white hair who apparently got dressed in the dark was kneeling in front of the fence. The strange sounds had been coming from him Naruto realized as the man made another one.

"What are you doing?" Naruto was truly curious.

"What does it look like I'm doing? I'm researching." The old man didn't turn his face from it's position in front of the fence.

"Research…" Naruto looked from the fence to the old man and back. "But that's the girl's… YOU'RE NOTHING BUT A PERVERT!" He shouted pointing a finger at the man. Suddenly a large hand was over his mouth and a harsh shhhh was being hissed in his ear. The old man had moved to being behind Naruto faster than he could follow.

"Shut it brat, you want to get me caught." The white haired man moved his hand away slowly, incase Naruto began to yell again. He was caught off guard however when Naruto turned around and began bouncing on the balls of his feet.

"Hey hey hey, you're really fast! How'd you get that fast? Can you teach me to be that fast? Hey! Are you a ninja?" The questions were fired in rapid succession.

"Heh heh heh, I'm not just a ninja kid. I," Here the old formed an odd little pose with one arm pointing up and outwards and the other place on his hip. He rose one leg up onto a stump. "AM THE GREATEST NINJA TO HAVE EVER NINJA-ED! I AM THE LEGENDARY JIRAIYA-SAMA! THE GREAT TOAD SANNIN!" He was yelling even louder than Naruto had been before and suddenly a small bucket was thrown over the fence and hit him right in the head.

"WE DON'T CARE WHO YOU ARE! JUST SHUT UP ALREADY!" A female voice carried over the fence.

"Heh…" Jiraiya sighed, resigned to having to leave now that his cover had been blown.

---

Jiraiya was starting to get annoyed. He'd left the hot springs and had started off towards an area in the forest he knew girls liked to swim at, unfortunately the blond kid from before was following him. And he wasn't even being stealthy about it. Half way to the new location Jiraiya whirled around the glare at the blond.

"Why the hell are you following me?" Jiraiya asked.

"You're a great ninja right?" Naruto replied, standing with one hand in his pocket and the other still holding his bath stuff.

"I told you already brat, I AM THE GREAT-"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, you already screamed that." He took the hand out of his pocket and waved it lazily in front of his face. "Well since you're so great and all, you can help me."

"Why would I want to help you with anything?" Jiraiya sneered.

"Hey! You should be glad I'm asking you for help! I'm going to be the next Hokage after all!"

"I've already trained a Hokage you idiot. I was the sensei of the Yondaime."

"You trained the Fourth?" Jiraiya sighed, this kid was stupider than he originally thought.

"That's what I said isn't it?" Jiraiya rolled his eyes at the kid.

"Well I'm going to be even greater than the Yondaime was!" The kid said jabbing his finger at Jiraiya.

"Yeah right kid. What makes you think that you can become greater than the greatest shinobi to have ever lived?" Jiraiya laughed out loud.

"DON'T LAUGH! I'll show you. I'm going to be the best ever or my name isn't Uzumaki Naruto!" Jiraiya suddenly fell silent.

"Did you say Uzumaki?"

**Author's Note Reprise: **And the story moves forward. I hope this chapter answered some questions and raised a lot more, hahaha. It also left off on a bit of a cliffy, because I'm evil that way, hehehe. Will Jiraiya train Naruto? Will Kakashi get his books taken away? Will Sasuke suddenly start singing show tunes? Turn in next chapter for the answer to some of these questions.

PREVIEW:

"Kabuto, have you found out why Sasuke wasn't in the chunin exams and where he is now?"

"Yes, Lord Orochimaru."

**REVIEW OR I'LL EAT YOU! RAWGH!**


	4. Chapter 4

**An Alternative Path**

**Author's note:** Some people commented on spelling. I just want to say, never be embarrassed to comment on spelling or something else I get wrong. I have a learning disability that likes to give me trouble remembering things like symbols and their order (basically it means I'll mix up letters and numbers, sometimes I'll write the completely wrong number or letter, trust me it's hell when trying to learn Hiragana and Katakana for Japanese 101). Just tell me though and I'll fix it. Also anything canon I get wrong that isn't in the course of this story being AU, tell me, I'll fix that too. I don't get insulted by these things.

About Sakura: This story is very very very team seven centered, she'll be a huge part of the story because of this, plus I just like her personality. I mean come on, Inner Sakura much?

About Sasuke: Okay so no one has really asked much about him but, as above he is part of team seven so we will be seeing a lot of him. I don't particularly like writing him but he's vital to the plot. Even if I do want to push him down a cliff sometimes.

**IMPORTANT: **This story is AU. That means ALTERNATE UNIVERSE. That means I can do whatever the hell I want and you have to suck it up and deal.

**Pairings: **Jeez, some of you people are serious about your pairings. I've even gotten some P.M.s about it. I wish to reiterate, FRIENDSHIP is the strongest influence in my manga. The romance will typically be the 'squint hard to find it' kind.

BTW: I don't own Naruto!

**A Month - Tough Days for Everyone**

Sakura was pretty sure she was going to die.

It hadn't been so bad at first. Sure she had to get up early to go to the hospital at seven to have basic human anatomy drilled into her head. Then at eleven she had an hour break to eat lunch before she had to meet Kurenai on a training field replete with a lake and trees. She mostly worked on chakra building as she'd been told she still didn't have enough to really be able to practice genjutsu. An hour though was always devoted to genjutsu theory. At four she was given another one hour break before she had to meet the rest of team seven at the bridge. Then they would either train as a team or do D-rank missions. At around eight or nine Sakura would go home, eat, and then study various subjects from battle tactics to history until around midnight when she'd go to bed.

Her only consolation was that Sasuke and Naruto always looked just as tired as she did.

Sometimes though Sakura couldn't help but wonder if all this was helping her any. She'd only learned two new techniques, both genjutsu and both very low level. Although she did now know a lot about the human body, which she supposed was useful because she knew a lot more places to hit that could do significant damage. But she still felt as though she were light-years behind the others. It made her think back to the first day she'd gone to train with Kurenai.

_Flashback cause I can_

"Why do you want to learn genjutsu?" Kurenai had said the moment Sakura had come within hearing range. Sakura had been taken aback, she hadn't had to answer such a question to the chunin teaching her med-jutsu.

"I, um, because Kakashi-sensei said that-"

"Wrong. Why do _you_ want to learn genjutsu. If you're just learning it for someone else then I'm not going to teach you." Kurenai crossed her arms over her chest and looked at Sakura expectantly.

For a few minutes there was silence while Sakura tried to think on an answer. Kurenai sighed and turned to leave. "Think about it tonight and give me an answer tomorrow."

"Wait!" Sakura called out to the retreating woman. When Kurenai looked back at her she continued. "I don't want to feel useless anymore. Back in the Wave I couldn't do anything! Sasuke almost died and Naruto went berserk or something and I couldn't do anything! I was just standing around looking like an idiot. I hate that. I really really hate that! I thought in the beginning that I was better than Naruto and I thought that I could keep up with Sasuke but they've gotten so far ahead of me, and I don't know what to do!" Sakura was almost crying now, and she couldn't stop talking. It was as though a dam had open up inside her and all of her insecurities were coming out. "I'm not like Ino or Hinata, I don't have family jutsu or a bloodline to fall back on. I'm the first ninja in my family. I want to prove that you don't have to come from a long lineage of ninjas to be a good one! I want to prove that I deserve to be on team seven!" Sakura breathed heavily by the end of her speech.

"Well then, if you really want to accomplish all that, don't you think we should get started?" Kurenai smiled at her.

"Uh, Yes! Right away Kurenai-sensei!"

---

Thinking back on that day reminded Sakura that she had to keep working hard. She wouldn't get stronger feeling sorry for herself.

---

While Sakura was only pretty sure she was going to die Naruto knew that Jiraiya would somehow be the death of him.

That first day at the hot springs had ended with Jiraiya suddenly taking off for parts unknown. Naruto had been depressed, thinking that Jiraiya had recognized him as the container for the Kyuubi (this was true) and that he had run out of disgust (not true). So he had pushed the matter to the back of his head and continued on with his day.

The next morning however he'd been dragged from his bed by the white haired man.

"Hey hey hey! What the hell do you think you're doing you old pervert!" Naruto screamed after gaining his bearings.

"Waking you up, what does it look like?" Jiraiya picked Naruto up by the neck of his pajamas and carried him towards the kitchen.

"What? Why! What're you doing in my house?" Naruto flailed around trying to get free of Jiraiya's hold. Jiraiya proceeded to drop him onto the linoleum floor of the kitchen.

"I told you, I'm here to wake you up. If you want to train you have to do it bright and early." Jiraiya started to poke around in Naruto's refrigerator, pushing aside slightly spoiled milk and a container of something that might have once been salad but was now some sort of hostile creature. "Don't you have any food in here that won't attack as you try to eat it?"

"Wait, you're going to train me?" Naruto started to feel hope rise in his chest.

"That's what I said, what are you, slow or something." Jiraiya closed the refrigerator and starting looking through Naruto's cabinets, finding an abundance of instant ramen but not much else. "Jeez is this crap all you eat?" He said taking out one of the packets and looking at it with an exasperated expression.

"Hey! Ramen isn't crap, ramen is the food of the gods." He dashed forward and snatched the package out of Jiraiya's hand with an almost comical speed. "Don't worry, I won't let the bad man hurt you." He spoke to it soothingly.

"Whatever brat, you need to eat different food if you don't want to have a heart attack at age thirty." Jiraiya sneered at the food in Naruto's hand.

"Yeah right, ramen never killed anybody!"

Jiraiya felt his eyes roll so far back into his head he probably looked like he was having a seizure. Waving his hand around he mumbled another 'Whatever' before moving to look around the rest of Naruto's apartment.

Naruto meanwhile started the water to boil for his ramen, which was soon to become his breakfast. He watched as Jiraiya prowled around his apartment

"What are you doing?" Naruto asked as he started to add the dry noodles to the water.

"I'm doing a jig, what does it look like I'm doing, I'm looking around." Jiraiya said as he opened up a scroll Naruto had lying around. He was surprised to find it was a scroll detailing how to mask your scent when hiding from other ninja's, he also saw notes written in a messy scrawl notating what worked and what didn't and how to improve certain tactics.

"What are you looking for?" Naruto stirred the noodles so they wouldn't stick to the bottom of his blackened pot.

"Nothing, just looking." He picked up Naruto's discarded kunai set. He was happy to find that they were well cared for and sharp, he was expecting it after seeing the state of his furniture.

"Well don't mess anything up, and don't move anything!" Naruto waved the wooden spoon in his hand in a threatening manner. Jiraiya looked around at the disorder in the apartment and couldn't believe the blonde cared if he messed anything up.

"This place is a mess anyway."

"Nu-uh, I know where everything is." Naruto took the pot off the stove before turning it off. He dumped the flavoring packet into the noodles before stirring vigorously to mix it well.

"Oh? Then where is the scroll that teaches you stealth methods?"

"Which one?" Naruto asked as he blew on the bowl of noodles he was now carrying to his table.

"Which one? What do you mean?"

"I have several scrolls on stealth. I like being able to hide. It helps when you're trying to do pranks without getting caught." Naruto stuffed a large amount of noodles in his mouth.

"…whatever, just hurry up, I want to be on the training field in ten minutes." As he watched Naruto shovel another bunch of noodles into his mouth Jiraiya wondered why he had wanted to do this

_Flashback, again!_

"Did you say Uzumaki?"

"Yeah, so?" Naruto had suddenly become defensive his posture becoming stiff as he entered fight of flight mode. He was surprised when Jiraiya simply left, leaving Naruto to wonder which way he went.

Jiraiya however was headed towards the Hokage tower. Once there he barged into the inner sanctum of the Hokages dispite the protesting guards at the door.

"Ah, Jiraiya, how may I help you?" The Sandaime spoke calmly from his place behind the massive paper laden desk. He was relieved to have a distraction from all the paperwork even if it came in the shape of his angry student.

"You never told me he became a ninja!" Jiraiya slammed his hands on the desk, rattling pens and causing one stack of forms to lean dangerously to the left.

"Who became a ninja?" Sarutobi asked honestly confused as he hastily straightened the pile.

"Naruto." Jiraiya said, calming down some in the face of his sensei's obvious perplexed expression.

"Yes he made genin just a few months ago. He had been placed under Hatake Kakashi." Sarutobi was starting to get the picture.

"Under his student huh? Nice." Jiraiya murmured under his breath.

"Yes, I felt Kakashi might be able to teach him some of his father's techniques and ideals." Sarutobi didn't mention that Naruto was placed under him only because Sasuke had to be trained by someone with the Sharingan and the best/worst team ratio had to be kept. He felt that as long things worked out it didn't matter how they worked out.

"Me too." Jiraiya said.

"What?"

"I said, I can teach him some of his father's techniques too."

"I thought you said you'd never take another student?" Sarutobi smirked inwardly, things really were working out better than he'd expected. He hadn't thought he'd be able to get Jiraiya to teach Naruto for another year or two.

"Well this is different right?"

"Yes, this is different."

---

Watching Naruto choke on a mouthful of noodles that had chosen to go down the wrong way Jiraiya thought maybe he'd jumped the gun on this training thing.

---

Sasuke knew he wasn't going to die, after all he still had his ambition and he wasn't about to keel over yet, that didn't however stop him from thinking he might in up in a hospital for a few days.

The day after they'd came back after team seven's little delivery mission he was waiting at the bridge like always. Sakura had already been there when he'd arrived and he had to suffer through her inane chatter as they both waited for the other two of their team. Sasuke had started to get a little annoyed though when Naruto didn't show up at his usual time. Almost always Naruto could be counted on to at least distract Sakura for a little while.

When Kakashi showed up his customary forty minutes late, having been threatened with bodily harm by Sakura if he showed up any later than that, and Naruto still hadn't shown up he grew even more annoyed.

"Where's the dobe?" He asked Kakashi after the jounin had finished giving he latest lame excuse.

"Ah, he's being trained by someone else during the morning and afternoon. Don't worry though, he'll still show up in the evening for team training and missions." Kakashi smiled at him. Sasuke sneered back.

"Why's he getting special training Kakashi-sensei?" Sakura asked.

"Well, you're getting special training too, and so's Sasuke."

"Ehh?"

"Yep. In the morning you'll go to the hospital and in the afternoons you'll go see Kurenai at training ground eighteen. Then in the evenings you'll come back to our training ground for team stuff." Kakashi smiled at her.

"Oh." Sakura looked worried but Kakashi didn't dwell on it, instead turning to Sasuke.

"You'll be with me, all day." Here his smile seemed to grow more sinister. "We'll continue to work on stealth, control, and reserves as well as starting on strength, endurance, and speed. You'll also spend two hours everyday learning tactics and the theories behind nin-jutsu use." Sasuke didn't think it sounded so hard.

"What about Naruto sensei? What's he learning?" Sakura asked.

"Ah well I'm not quite sure what Jiraiya-sama will be teaching him." Kakashi scratched at the side of his face. "I assume it will be mostly control though. Maybe some strength and endurance training."

"What about the rest of the stuff that I'm learning?" Sasuke asked.

"Well as you know Naruto doesn't need any work on his reserves or his stealth. He's already plenty fast as well, plus speed for him isn't as important as strength. Naruto's a natural in a fight so tactics probably won't help him much until later. For some reason Naruto is also a natural when it comes to nin-jutsu, he doesn't even have to mold chakra to perform a jutsu and he must know some theory if he can create jutsu like with the Orioke no Jutsu."

"That is not a proper jutsu." Sakura said although inwardly she was thinking something more strongly worded: 'THAT PERVERTED THING? THAT'S NOT A JUTSU, THAT'S AN EMBARRASSMENT!'.

"Actually it is, it's an incredibly complex Henge, it doesn't just change appearance it changes voice, speech patterns, smell, even his chakra feels different. It isn't like any Henge I've seen before." Kakashi said.

Sasuke however had stopped paying attention. He couldn't believe that Kakashi was praising Naruto of all people. He also couldn't believe that Naruto was being trained by one of the Sannin. When had the dobe gotten so far? Sasuke wasn't sure but he did know one thing, he was going to train like crazy and show everyone that he was the strongest.

---

While team seven was being trained to exhaustion by various ninja a certain traitor was growing frustrated.

"Kabuto, have you found out why Sasuke wasn't in the chunin exams and where he is now?"

"Yes, Lord Orochimaru, it seems that his jounin sensei, The Copy-nin Hatake Kakashi didn't nominate his team for the exams."

"I can't believe Konoha didn't take the first opportunity they could to show off the last Uchiha."

"Yes well now he's being trained quite hard it appears by Hatake. When not with Hatake he is shadowed by an ANBU operative."

"Damn. Sarutobi must have figured out I'd been interested in him. It doesn't matter though, we can still easily get to him."

"Do you honestly think that's best, Lord Orochimaru?"

"What do you mean Kabuto?"

"Think about it, if you attack him now you'll have to come out of hiding, it might mess up the plan to destroy Konoha. It might be best to wait until the plan has been launched, it will be easy to obtain him in all the confusion. Besides, we might as well let him get a strong as he can under Kakashi for the moment."

"I suppose you are right. We'll wait until the finals, and then we'll make our move."

---

Three weeks after they started training and six days before the chunin exams they were all waiting at the bridge for Kakashi, just like they had been for the past weeks. Except this time Naruto was covered in dirt and his clothes were torn in several places.

"What the hell happened to you dobe?" Sasuke asked genuinely surprised at his state.

"Ero-sennin decided that I needed a new training exercise, I've already mastered both the leaf curling and paper knife trick plus the other one he taught me the string exercise. Now I have to form a stationary (Naruto had no idea what this was but Jiraiya had said it so he copied him) ball of chakra in one hand while I spar against Jiraiya with my other hand and legs." Naruto looked down at his slashed sleeve. "Jiraiya doesn't hold back much."

"Are you hurt?" Sakura asked looking worried.

"Nah." Seeing their disbelieving stares Naruto changed his statement. "I mean I was hurt, but now… I'm not?" He finished lamely.

"Oh did you already go to the hospital?" Sakura asked.

"Nah." Naruto became distracted by a slash in his pants' leg that he didn't remember getting and wasn't really paying attention anymore.

"Oh then Jiraiya healed you?"

"Ero-sennin? Please, He'd just tell me to get stronger so I wouldn't get hurt as much."

"Oh then, who healed you?" Sakura was confused.

"Ehhh?" Suddenly Naruto felt like panicking. Before he was forced to make up a (horrible) lie Kakashi poofed into existence with a white cloud of smoke.

"Yo." Kakashi said not noticing the serious and slightly relieved (from Naruto) atmosphere.

"YOU'RE LATE!" Sakura screamed sufficiently distracted from Naruto.

"Heh heh, you see I had to help a little girl find her way home." Kakashi smiled, that was a good one.

"LIAR! Plus that's slightly creepy…." Sakura said.

"Heh, right…." Kakashi scratched the back of his head. "Anyways today we won't be doing any training as Naruto looks to have gotten the stuffing kicked out of him once already today."

"Hey!"

"Instead we'll be doing a fun mission!" Kakashi finished cheerily as the others groaned. D-ranked missions still sucked even if they were too tired for anything higher than that.

"So what inane task will we be performing today Kakashi-sensei?" Sasuke mumbled, too wiped out from training to maintain his strong-silent type persona.

"A very important one! We must venture out into the forests surrounding Konoha in order to locate and retrieve a ferocious animal."

"So we have to go get Tora again." Sakura sighed, that was probably the worst mission and it was much harder than in sounded. That cat got smarter each time it got loose. Sakura thought it should be at least C-rank by this point.

"Aw damn it! I hate that cat! It always goes nuts when it sees me." Naruto complained. This was the absolute truth and all three of his teammates thought Naruto had good reason to hate Tora. The last time Naruto had caught the cat it had raked both sets of claws down his face drawing deep gouges in the skin that bleed greatly. Kakashi had sent Naruto to the hospital instead of having him accompany the team back to the Hokage's tower.

"I wonder why Tora dislikes you so much?" Sakura mused out loud. She didn't like the cat but it had never tried to claw her, Sasuke or Kakashi.

"I don't know! Most animals just don't like me, unless they're some sort of nin-animal."

"We should go before we have to try to find that flea-bag in the dark." Sasuke said tonelessly. The others all shuddered at that idea and the team set off immediately.

---

After they had retrieved and returned Tora, Naruto refusing the whole time to touch him, the Hokage had asked Naruto a question.

"How is your training with Jiraiya going Naruto?" Team seven, who had been on their way out stopped. Sakura, Sasuke, and Kakashi wanted to see what Naruto would say.

"Eh it's okay when I can actually get him to focus on training rather than on girls." Naruto shrugged.

"What have you learned so far?" The Hokage asked while mentally reminding himself to post more notice signs around the hot springs.

"Well I finally got that stupid leaf thing to work, and I've mastered the paper knife one too. That one was a lot easier. Ero-sannin said it's because my chakra has a wind affinity so it's already used to being sharp." Kakashi was surprised that Jiraiya was starting to get into affinities already. Sasuke was confused (not that he'd admit it) and Sakura was jealous because she had been told she had to wait three years while her chakra stabilized to learn her affinity. "I didn't really understand what he was saying though." This surprised nobody. "Then he started me on the string exercise."

"You mentioned that one earlier Naruto. What is it?" Sakura asked, anything to heighten chakra control she wanted in on.

"Well it's a lot like the paper knife one actually. You see you take some string and surround it with chakra that you then you can either strengthen the string or make it sharp like wire. It's harder than the paper knife cause string is skinny and long and you have to keep it malleable." Naruto didn't know exactly what that word meant but, again, Jiraiya said it so he would say it too.

"…Naruto you have no idea what malleable means do you?" Sakura deadpanned.

"Err, not exactly? I know that I have to make it so the string can still bend though!" He sounded so excited that the other's couldn't help but sigh.

"What is he going to work on next?" The Sandaime asked.

"I don't know, but he said that tomorrow I get to learn something really cool! Ero-sannin said that it's really big and destructive." Naruto giggled. "I can't wait!"

Everyone in the room immediately began thinking that big + destructive + Naruto not good.

"Well that's very nice Naruto. You all can leave now." After they had all left Sarutobi immediately turned to one of his guards. "Bring me Jiraiya right now." He sighed as he massaged his temples. Maybe having Jiraiya train Naruto was a bad idea after all. The two were just too much alike.

**Author's Note Reprise: **Well that's the longest chapter yet but the next one should be about 5000-6000 words. The next one may not come out anytime soon either. I just had surgery today (the 27th) and I'm hurting, that's why the end of the chapter sucks so much. I also have my first test in Japanese next Wednesday, a paper due in English and a project for Anthropology that's due in a couple of weeks. BUT! I become incredibly inspired when you review, so review and I'll try to have the next chapter up before the fifth (No promises though). The next chapter is a really exciting one, more characters show up and there is even a fight, hehehe.

PREVIEW:

Suddenly Sasuke and Sakura realized that they were running through the trees alone. Turning back they saw that both Naruto and Kakashi had stopped. Kakashi was looking to the west, towards where the Hokage tower was, a deep frown evident through his mask. Naruto had faced the east, his eyes wide and his body shaking slightly.

"Something's wrong." They both said at the same time.

**REVIEW OR I'LL EAT YOU! RAWGH!**


	5. Chapter 5

-1**An Alternative Path**

**Author's note:** You people rock, seriously you rock out loud. Okay enough of me being lame (yeah right, I'm always lame). I'm so sorry this chapter is so late. You all did awesome with reviewing though! It's late because I suck, I totally fail at life. I've been sick, I've been stressed, and I've been computer deprived the past little while. I've had midterms and papers and research to do. Mostly though I just suck. For your wonderful patience with me I do have a little treat. There is an Omake at the bottom of the page. I think it's funny. Maybe you wont xD

**IMPORTANT: **This story is AU. That means ALTERNATE UNIVERSE. That means I can do whatever the hell I want and you have to suck it up and deal.

**Pairings: **Jeez, some of you people are serious about your pairings. I've even gotten some P.M.s about it. I wish to reiterate, FRIENDSHIP is the strongest influence in my manga. The romance will typically be the 'squint hard to find it' kind.

BTW: I don't own Naruto!

**A Jutsu, A Mission, and A Battle**

Naruto was not surprised to find Jiraiya had not yet arrived at the training field they used. Jiraiya only very rarely arrived of his own free will. Usually it was up to Naruto to track down and drag Jiraiya to the field. Jiraiya claimed it was all part of his training but Naruto didn't believe that for a minute.

Naruto soon found Jiraiya hiding in some bushes beside a river. In the river several young girls were swimming around and splashing each other. Naruto felt his eyebrow twitch at the overwhelming pervertedness of his teacher. The man currently had a glazed look in his eyes and a small amount of drool was making it's way down his chin.

"HEY! ERO-SENNIN! PAY ATTENTION!" Naruto screamed right in the old man's ear.

"GAHH!" Jiraiya jumped surprised, he hadn't sensed the blond come up behind him. "WHAT ARE YOU DOING BRAT!" Jiraiya screamed back.

"Heh, nothing, but those ladies might want to know what you're doing." Naruto grinned smugly as he pointed to behind his sensei.

Turning around Jiraiya noticed that all of the girls he had previously been spying on were looking over at them with confusion written across their features. As he watched however he noticed the confusion slowly being replaced with anger as they realized just what he had been doing. Deciding that this was his cue to leave Jiraiya grabbed Naruto around the middle and proceeded to run away with the laughing Naruto under his arm.

"Thanks a lot you brat. You ruined my research!" Jiraiya dropped Naruto into the dirt as they arrived at a vast plain with a deep canyon next to it.

"You can't call that research! That's just you being a pervert!" Naruto said as he lifted himself from the dirt.

"You're too young. You just don't understand the finer things in life." Jiraiya shook his head as though it were all his fault that Naruto didn't understand.

"I don't think I want to understand." Naruto made a face as he spit out some dirt. "Now what about that new jutsu you were going to teach me, huh?"

"Humph, you don't deserve it" Jiraiya huffed crossing his arms and turning his face from Naruto.

"Aww c'mon! I've worked really really hard on my chakra control!" Naruto stamped his foot onto the ground.

"Fine, but if I teach you this you have to stop interrupting my research!" Jiraiya said.

"OKAY!" Naruto cheered pumping a fist into the air. He didn't for a moment intend to actually keep his promise but what Jiraiya didn't know wouldn't hurt Naruto.

Of course Jiraiya knew full well that his student wouldn't keep his word and thus was planning on some extreme training in the future.

Sighing Jiraiya quickly flipped through a series of hand seals before biting his thumb and slamming his hand onto the ground. "Kuchiyose no Jutsu!" he cried. A wide puff of smoke enveloped the ground around them and suddenly a very large toad appeared carrying a scroll in it's mouth.

"Wah!" Naruto felt his mouth drop open and his eyes bug out. "That is one big frog…"

"It's not a frog it's a toad you idiot!" Jiraiya sighed heavily and took the scroll from the toad before allowing it to disappear. "Now I want you to sign this, it will make you able to summon toads like me."

"Why would I want to summon toads? They can't do much right?" Suddenly a fist came down on his head.

"WRONG!" Jiraiya screamed at him while grinding his fist painfully into Naruto's head. "Toads can do a lot in battle. In fact the Toad Summon Boss, Gamabunta, once went head to head with Kyuubi no Kitsune."

"Really?" Naruto cried from about three yards away having somehow managed to get away from Jiraiya's torture.

"Yep. Do you want to sign it yet?" Jiraiya smirked.

"Yeah! Hand it over Ero-sannin." Naruto's head was forced back as the large scroll hit him in the face.

"I told you not to call me that!"

---

After having signed the scroll, and learning that the Yondaime had signed it as well, Naruto began to practice summoning toads. Unfortunately it looked like he pretty much sucked at summoning toads.

"ARGH! WHY CAN I GET ANYTHING BIGGER THAN TWO INCHES!" He screamed after summoning yet another useless frog.

"Hey at least they have legs, I thought for sure you wouldn't be able to summon anything without a tail at first." Jiraiya said from his spot in the bushes where he was spying on some women swimming in the river.

"You know you could try helping me for once Ero-sennin." Naruto mumbled. Jiraiya developed a twitch under his right eye.

"You want help? Fine then I guess we'll do this the easy way." He stood up and walked over towards Naruto.

"What? There was an ea-oof" He got cut off as he was suddenly hefted over Jiraiya's shoulder. Jiraiya then proceeded to take off towards the plain they had been at earlier. Once there he quickly dropped Naruto next to the ravine.

"Now you want to do this the easy way right?" Jiraiya raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah!" Naruto jumped up and pumped an arm in the air.

"Well then I hope you're prepared for the consequences!" Jiraiya then quickly shoved Naruto into the ravine. "Good luck!"

---

Sakura was starting to get worried. She'd arrived at their customary meeting place early. She watched as the water carried leaves and various other debris under the bridge. She didn't start to get worried until their usual meeting time had passed and not even Naruto was there. Naruto was always there, even if he had to practically drag himself to the bridge in the evening.

Suddenly Sasuke came walking up from the right and Sakura felt immense relief.

"Hey Sasuke-kun! How was your day?" She got a grunt as a reply but didn't let it phase her as she continued. "Yeah my training sucked too. More theory today than actual practice. Where's Kakashi-sensei?"

"That old man training Naruto showed up and said he had to talk to him. Kakashi's going to be late." Sasuke plucked a leaf from a nearby tree and began the leaf curling exercise.

"Oh. I wonder where Naruto is then?" Sakura picked up a leaf too and began furling it and unfurling it swiftly.

"Naruto's in the hospital and he'll probably be there for a day or so more. He's suffering from extreme chakra depletion from training today." Kakashi had shown up in his usual manner.

"But, doesn't chakra depletion take more than a day to heal fully?" Sakura asked, it had been drilled into her head that chakra took at least 4 days to recover and many times as much as a week.

"Usually, but you have to remember, Naruto is special." Kakashi spoke in a singsong manner, trying to distract Sakura. "Now for our next mission…"

"WAIT! It really really isn't normal. No one should regenerate chakra so fast. Now that I think about it he did it before in Wave too. Why does Naruto have so much chakra and why does it replete so fast? He heals fast too! Why is Naruto so weird?"

"Well I really can't tell you why he is so weird…" Kakashi tapped his chin. "But I can tell you is that the reason Naruto can do these things isn't because of any training or anything like that. It's something, well he… Hmm how can I explain this?"

"Is it like a bloodline?" Sasuke spoke up.

"Hmm. Not exactly, but close enough. It's something only Naruto can do." Kakashi shook his head a little. "If Naruto wants you to know, he'll tell you. I can't tell you anymore."

"Why not?" Sakura asked tilting her head to the left.

"Because it might just get me killed."

---

A few days later on the day of the chunin exam finals team seven was on it's way back from a C-rank mission. They'd met a team of chunin at a half-way point in order to retrieve a scroll with some information. It had been a day there, a night of rest, and now today they were returning.

Suddenly Sasuke and Sakura realized that they were running through the trees alone. Turning back they saw that both Naruto and Kakashi had stopped. Kakashi was looking to the west, towards where the Hokage tower was, a deep frown evident through his mask. Naruto had faced the east, his eyes wide and his body shaking slightly.

"Something's wrong." They both said at the same time.

"What? What's wrong?" Sakura asked worried. She had never seen Naruto look so scared, and the last time she'd seen Kakashi look that serious they'd been facing down Zabuza.

"There are chakra spikes all over the place." Kakashi said.

"Yeah and that one-" Naruto pointed to the east. "That one feels really, really bad."

"Naruto's right. That one feels really, really bad." He frowned as he swung his gaze to the east. "In fact I haven't felt chakra like that since-" He was going to say since that day on the bridge in Wave but thought better of it. "since the Kyuubi attack."

Sakura and Sasuke didn't notice but suddenly Naruto got very pale.

"We need to hurry." again Naruto and Kakashi spoke at the same time before taking off as fast as they could.

Sakura was struggling to keep within eyeshot of the pair and Sasuke lagged about five to six meters behind at all time. The ran like that for half an hour, covering more miles than they had previously in two hours.

A noise to the left and in front of them caused Kakashi and Naruto to stop quickly, Kakashi pulling out a kunai and Naruto preparing to perform Kage Bushin. Right as Sasuke and Sakura had caught up with the pair a man moved from out behind the foliage. He wore the standard chunin vest and a Konoha forehead guard.

"You're Konoha nin, right?" The stranger asked them.

"Yes we are. Can you tell us what's going on. All we can feel is this weird chakra, we were on a mission before." Kakashi spoke lowering his weapon but not putting it away, just in case.

"Shit man, there's been an invasion. Damn Sand betrayed us, paired up with Sound. Now Orochimaru is fighting the Hokage and some demon brat from Sand is battling with a group of genin. Everything's going to hell. I'm trying to find some of the patrol units set up around here." The chunin ran a hand through his hair.

"Where?" Kakashi asked.

"Where what?" the chunin replied.

"Where are the Hokage and the genin." Kakashi gritted his teeth to keep from snapping.

"Hokage's at the tower, genin are at the plain outside of town, the one near the ravine." the chunin then left to complete his task.

"Okay, do you guys know where the plain is?" Kakashi asked.

"I do. I trained there a lot with Ero-sennin. I've seen that ravine up close and personal too, the bastard threw me off it!" Naruto said, sounding edgy and twitchy.

"Right, Naruto you're in charge-" Kakashi was cut off by a screech from Sakura.

"Why is he in charge!"

"If you'd let me finish. Naruto you're in charge of getting to the place. Also, as I'm sure you've already realized, if he is what we think he is…" Kakashi trailed off.

"I know." Naruto looked down at the ground. Jiraiya had already given him a speech about what he could expect by being a Jinchuriki, and fighting other ones was at the top of a long list of things he'd be forced to do.

"Right. I'm sorry Naruto, but it really is only something you can do. So I'm putting you in charge on the battlefield as well." He turned to Sakura and Sasuke. "You two, back Naruto up. Do whatever he tells you to, if you don't it'll be insubordination and you'll be punished. If Naruto falls…" Sakura gasped a little, not thinking that things would be that dangerous. "If Naruto falls than Sasuke's in charge. I want you to pull everyone back the moment he goes down, if he goes down. I'm sure everything will be fine. Tell whoever else is there what I said. Got it?"

"Yes Kakashi-sensei!" They all replied in unison. They recognized this as not being a situation they could argue with.

Good. Now go!" Kakashi himself turned and leapt through the trees towards the village.

"Come on, the plain's this way." Naruto started to run towards the west, Sasuke and Sakura following him.

---

Ten minutes later they suddenly skid to a halt at the edge of a forest. Before them loomed a massive sand colored beast. Closer inspection however showed that the beast was still only half formed and it wasn't doing much.

The Konoha genin however seemed to be regrouping. They stood about two hundred feet away from the forming demon. Team seven immediately ran towards them.

"Hey! Guys, how's it going?" Naruto called as he stopped by the side of Shikamaru. Besides Shikamaru were Ino, Shino, and three genin that he didn't recognize. One had the same eyes as Hinata though so he figured they were family. One was a girl with two buns on top of her head and an odd scythe in her hand. The last was a boy with an atrocious hair cut, he was holding his right arm with his left, the right seeming to be broken.

"How do you think it's going Naruto? We're getting crushed by one guy! And now he's done some weird jutsu! You are such an idiot sometimes!" Ino was screaming right in his ear.

"Heh, well I guess it's a good thing we got here then huh?" Naruto said before turning to look at the sand beast in front of them.

"What are you three going to do? You guys didn't even get nominated for the chunin exam." Ino said.

"Not we, me. Sasuke, Sakura I want you to stay here, don't interfere, he isn't something you can handle." Naruto faced the other genin. "You all stay back too."

"What's makes you think that someone like you can tells us what to do?" The Hyuuga said disdainfully.

"Kakashi-sensei said that Naruto was in charge and that you all needed to follow his orders. Naruto is suppose to fight him. And if Naruto fails we all have to pull back." Sakura said as haughtily as she could.

"Step out onto that battlefield and you'll be brought up for insubordination." Sasuke added.

"I'm sorry. I know you must be confused, but none of you know what's going on here." Naruto turned to walk forwards again but was stopped by someone grabbing his elbow.

"Wait! Please! Please save Gaara. This wasn't suppose to happen, everything's going to hell, Father's dead and I don't know what to do. Please, please don't kill him." A tall blond kunoichi was standing next to him, tears in her pale eyes.

"I can't promise you anything but I don't want to have to kill him, if I don't have to." Naruto wasn't quite sure what was going on but he knew desperation when he saw it. He really hoped things wouldn't come down to death. "Don't worry. I'm sure everything will be just fine." Naruto smiled for her. Shaking off her arm he leapt towards where the monster was completing itself.

Looking at the huge size of the monster Naruto saw only one option. He'd have to call out the Toad Boss again. He'd only done it once before and only when he thought he was going to die but he couldn't think of any other idea. He turned to face the group of genin again.

"YOU ALL NEED TO STAND BACK! RIGHT NOW!" He screamed. To his satisfaction most of the genin hustled back another hundred feet, Ino however had to be dragged back by Sakura. "I hope this works." Naruto muttered under his breath.

"_**Heh heh heh, did they really send only one brat to face me?**_" The voice sent shivers down the spines of all the genin, except Naruto who was too busy focusing on his jutsu, Neji who refused to shiver, and Sasuke who stood like a statue next to Sakura, all his attention on Naruto.

"What is Naruto doing?" Sakura asked. She couldn't see the hand signs very clearly but the amount of chakra he was pouring into the jutsu was ridiculous.

"It looks like a summoning." Sasuke had activated the Sharingan. "When did he learn that."

"Just how much chakra does that boy plan to put in it. If he puts that much in he'll surely run out and die." The Hyuuga had activated his own Byakugan eyes and was amazed at the way he saw chakra moving in Naruto.

"Naruto has a lot of chakra, Kakashi-sensei said that Naruto might have more than himself." Sakura replied.

"What's wrong with him?" The stoic boy replied.

"Neji! That's rude!" The girl cried out.

"Nothing's wrong with him, he just has a lot of chakra." Sakura was surprised to find that she felt defensive over Naruto.

"Not that. What's with all the red chakra?"

"Red…" Sakura whipped her head around to look at Naruto. Neji was right Naruto was pouring out a strange red chakra. Suddenly Naruto slammed his hand down and cried out something that she couldn't hear. A huge explosion of smoke occurred. Leaving everyone except Neji and Sasuke to throw their hands up over their eyes.

Once the smoke cleared everyone understood why they'd been told to step back. A huge toad was sitting in front of them, Naruto on it's head.

"Oi brat! What are you calling me out for!" Gamabunta called out, moving his mouth carefully around his pipe.

"Do you not see the gigantic tanuki made of sand in front of you!" Naruto cried waving his arm frantically towards the monster.

"Oh? My, my is that Shuukaku?" The toad said. "It's been awhile since I've seen him."

"Great! Feel like helping me fight him?"

"No." His reply caused Naruto to nearly fall off the toad's head in shock.

"What do you mean no?" Naruto screamed. "You said you'd let me call you!"

"We haven't even exchanged sake cups yet and you want me to fight for you? Forget it." The toad turned it's head to the side.

"No way." Naruto held his arms up in an X. "You can't do that. I need help. You just want everyone to die?"

"Doesn't matter to me." Gamabunta replied.

"Why you! How can you say that!"

"_**Hey are we going to fight or what?**_" Shuukaku looked slightly miffed.

"Hold your horses, can't you see I'm having a discussion here." Naruto told the demon.

"_**Why you brat, you can't talk to me like that.**_" A huge wave of killing intent rolled over Naruto. The genin standing behind him felt it. Ino and Sakura were nearly sick.

"I just did. What the fuck are you going to do about it you great pile of sand." Naruto wasn't really thinking by this point, irritated as he was by both the toad and the situation.

"_**I'm going to kill you that's what!**_" The tanuki roared.

"You were going to kill me anyway, so what does it even matter?" Naruto replied.

"_**It, well, Grrrrr.**_" The tanuki growled at him.

"Well I got to say you're either really brave or really stupid." Gamabunta was laughing at the look on Shuukaku's face. "Probably both. Hahaha. Alright maybe I will help you out just this once. The thing you have to understand about Shuukaku is that he's crazy and he likes to make his hosts just as crazy as he is. You see the boy sleeping on top of his head?"

Naruto looked and the frowned, he saw Gaara. "Yeah, I see."

"Shuukaku keeps the hosts from sleeping. He devours their mind, their personalities if they dare sleep. Eventually the hosts go mad anyways though. Right now he's able to act because his host is asleep. We have to wake him up."

"Okay, but how?" Naruto didn't see a way to do it.

"I'll hold him, you get to the kid and wake him. We're going to have to use a henge though. I don't have claws or fangs to hold onto Shuukaku. I'll provide the chakra, you think of something I can change into."

"Right! You ready?" Across from them the sand demon had gotten fed up with waiting and had begun to ready himself for an attack.

"Yes." Gamabunta quickly molded his chakra for the transformation.

"Then let's go!" At such short notice Naruto could think of only one thing to hold the tanuki, a fox. So he thought of a fox, but not just any fox. Naruto was thinking of the Kyuubi. It came as no big surprise to him when the toad he was riding on was transformed into a gigantic fox that looked just like the Kyuubi no Kitsune, except with only one tail. To those watching however it came as a huge shock.

"Is that the Kyuubi?" Tenten muttered. She'd only seen drawings of it before but she could swear the thing before her looked just like the demon.

"No. It must be a henge." Shikamaru said. He frowned a bit, confused. "Why would Naruto have the summon turn into a fox?"

It became clear when the fox suddenly lashed onto the surprised tanuki. Naruto jumped off and ran towards the top of the demon's head where Gaara was buried waist deep in sand. "Wake up!" He screamed as he threw a tremendous punch straight at the boy's jaw.

A loud crack was heard as the punch connected. The monster screamed as he started to dissolve away and Gamabunta vanished in a cloud of smoke as his job was done.

Naruto and Gaara fell towards the sand covered ground. Naruto managed to flip in mid-air and land in heavy crouch on the ground, the wind getting knocked out of him from the jarring motion. Gaara however was too dazed and landed in a painful crash twenty feet away.

For awhile nothing happened and no one moved. Naruto was breath heavily where he stood, not daring to turn his back just in case it wasn't over. The other genin were too shocked by the short lived battle to do anything. And Gaara was just lying on the ground.

Suddenly Gaara started to shift before struggling to his knees.

"Kill me." He said in a perfect monotone.

"No." Naruto replied. He didn't even sound shocked although the rest of the genin were greatly surprised.

"Why not? You won, I lost." Gaara continued to speak in a monotone despite his surprise.

"Exactly. If I killed you now it wouldn't serve any purpose. I wasn't ordered to kill you Gaara, I was just suppose to stop you. I did that. Right now you aren't any sort of threat to me." Naruto explained.

"And later, what if I come back. What if I attack again." Temari wanted to shout at her brother to shut up. Did he want to die?

"Then I suppose I'll fight you again, and next time I suppose I probably will kill you." Naruto said.

"Why not now? Are you that afraid to kill someone?" Naruto began to laugh at him, but it wasn't a pleasant sound.

"You aren't the only one who's killed people before Gaara. Do you really think that people like us could go through life without killing anyone by this age?" Naruto sobered.

"What is he talking about!?" Sakura asked Sasuke. "Why is he saying things like that?"

"I don't know Sakura." Sasuke replied.

"Gaara, do you want to die? Because it sounds like you do. It sounds like you're asking me to kill you." Naruto continued not hearing his teammates behind him, all his attention focused instead on the red head in front of him.

"People like us are relics of the past. We never should have been born. What role do we, weapons from birth, play in this time of mostly peace?" His tone pulled at the heartstrings of the girls. Gaara sounded resigned.

"I don't know Gaara. I really don't. In the past few months since I learned the truth I've been asking myself that over and over. How can someone like me ever really belong? I understand Gaara I really do. It's so hard having everyone look at you and never see you. Instead they see that thing, the object of their hate and fear. After a while, after years of seeing them look at you like that, it would be so easy to hate them. So I did. I hated them Gaara. I hated them all. Everyone in that village. And soon I hated Konoha itself. I hated them, I hated Konoha, I hated the situation, even though I didn't understand it, and I even started to hate myself. I didn't know why. I was just a child. But I was filled with hate."

"So you really do understand." Gaara smirked at him.

"Yes. I understand. I was filled with hate Gaara, but I wasn't happy. Hating them, hating the village, hating the situation, it didn't do a damn thing Gaara. Nothing would ever change if I kept on hating everything. Least of all myself. So I tried to stop hating. And once I started looking at things through eyes cleared of hate it was easier to see the things I could love. And then I found it Gaara. I found my reason for living."

"What? What was it?" By this point Gaara, and everyone else was listening closely.

"That one person who didn't hate or fear me. The Hokage. The Hokage was always nice to me. It wasn't long before I came to love the Old Man, just like he loved me. Soon he became my world. It isn't the ideal situation. Ideally we should be able to live for ourselves without a reason, but I wonder it it's possible for people like us. After I found the Hokage, I started to find others. Iruka-sensei, Kakashi-sensei, Ero-sennin, my friends, my teammates, even the old ramen vendor, they all became my reasons for living. So I promised I would protect them, all of them, and everyone who was important to them. I swore to protect this village Gaara. And one day I'll be Hokage, so I can protect everyone I need to. As long as the village stands it's the proof of my existence."

"The village…" Gaara looked down at the sand surrounding him. "That's your proof…"

"It's easy to hate them Gaara, but it's not very rewarding. For people like us though it seems like the only thing we can do. But still, try to find just one person you can live your life for. And you might start to understand a bit better."

"No one. I have no one." Gaara growled at him, angry at something he didn't understand.

"What about her?" Naruto pointed towards Temari. "You know she asked me, she begged me, not to kill you? She had tears in her eyes Gaara. She cares about you, and you, do you think you'd feel nothing if she died, right now, today?"

"…"

"Start with not hating her, you don't have to love her today, you don't have to even like her, but try not hating her. It's not going to be easy, you won't become happy over night. But maybe one day you will be, and that will be worth any hardship you have now." Naruto reasoned with him.

"Maybe…" Gaara slumped suddenly to the ground, unconscious.

"GAARA!" Temari screamed as she and another boy ran to the prone form.

"Don't worry. It's just his chakra is all gone. Although he might have a few broken bones too." Naruto suddenly sat down on the ground. "Actually I think all my chakra is gone too."

"Thank you." Temari was supporting half her unconscious brother's wait on her shoulder, her other brother Kankuro doing the same on his other side. "Thank you so much."

"Sure. No problem." The threesome turned to leave. "Wait, what are your names before you go?"

"Well I'm Sabaku no Temari, and these are my brothers Gaara and Kankuro. We come from Suna, as I'm sure you've realized."

"Uzumaki Naruto."

"Well thank you, Uzumaki Naruto. We'll just be leaving now."

"Sure, go on." Naruto waved them away.

As soon as the three were gone Sakura ran up to Naruto.

"Why did you let them leave?" She screamed.

"We aren't really in a position to keep them here, not without fighting them, and to be honest I don't think keeping them here would do any good." Naruto flopped down on his back.

"Oh. Hey are you okay?" Sakura asked as the rest of the genin gathered around her.

"Sure. It wasn't like I had to fight much. Mostly I'm just tired. I had to use a ton of chakra to summon Gamabunta." Naruto sighed. "Stupid toad…"

"Yeah since when could you do that!" Sakura cried.

"Ero-sannin taught me. Remember that day I didn't come to the bridge? It was cause I'd just summoned Gamabunta for the first time, it used up all my chakra. Stupid Ero-sannin threw me off that ravine." He pointed towards the deep crevice on the other side of the plain.

"But you're okay right?" Sakura asked concerned slightly.

"Yep I'm fine. Although I think I need to sleep for about ten hours." Naruto smiled at her.

"What are you?" Neji suddenly asked.

"Neji! Didn't I just say that was rude!" Tenten shrieked at him.

"You have strange chakra and you kept talking as if you and that other boy weren't like the rest of us." Neji ignored Tenten.

"What do you think I am?" Naruto asked suddenly serious again.

"I don't know, but I'm starting to wonder if it's human."

"What and unyouthful thing to say my rival!" The boy with a broken arm said. "I, Rock Lee, apologize on my teammates behalf."

"Eh, sure…" Naruto blinked is surprise. "Hey can I ask you something?" He sounded dead serious.

"Anything!" Lee's teeth sparkled as he smiled.

"Are those eyebrows real?"

"Naruto! I thought you were going to say something important!" Sakura screamed at him.

"Hey! Enquiring minds need to know." Naruto defended.

"Naruto…" Everyone turned around at the sound of a new voice. Out from the trees came Kakashi, looking none the worse for wear.

"Hey Kakashi-sensei! What's up?" Naruto said.

"Where are the sand nin?" He asked.

"Gone. I beat Gaara and they took off, back to Suna I think."

"Alright, that's fine. Is anyone hurt?" This was directed at everyone.

"Ino sprained her ankle. Lee's arm is broken. Shino lost half is colony. We're all cut up and chakra deprived." Shikamaru answered.

"Me and Sasuke are fine." Sakura said.

"I'm fine too, just tired and depleted." Naruto said.

"Good." Kakashi sighed in relief. He didn't know what he'd do if any of his team had been seriously hurt. Now for the real reason her was here. "Naruto I have something to tell you. It's about the Hokage."

"Eh? What about the Old Man, is he hurt?" Naruto asked.

"No Naruto. The Hokage, the Hokage fell in battle Naruto. I'm sorry but he's dead.

---

**OMAKE:** The Practical Joke

They had just rendezvous with the team they had information for. After some polite small talked conducted by Kakashi and the leader of the other team they got down to business. The other team handed Kakashi a small scroll and after stowing it away Kakashi turned to Naruto.

"Okay Naruto give me the scroll." He held out his hand for it.

"What scroll?" He asked looking honestly bewildered.

"The scroll I gave you in Konoha. I told you to watch it." Kakashi was getting mad. Naruto was making him look like a fool.

"I don't have a scroll. You never gave me anything." He shook his head and held up his empty hands.

"But… Sasuke, Sakura did I give it to one of you instead?" He asked, confused.

"No Kakashi-sensei." Said Sakura. Sasuke merely grunted his no.

"Wait so none of you have it?" Kakashi said. They all shook their heads.

"Hey, what's going on Hatake?" The leader of the other team said.

"Um I don't know. Are you sure none of you have the scroll?" Kakashi asked again, getting desperate.

"Wait… Did you mean this scroll?" Naruto suddenly held up the missing scroll. "Looks like I had it after all!"

Kakashi gaped at his student as Naruto burst out laughing at his joke. Sakura giggled into his hand and Sasuke snickered. They were all in this together! Kakashi couldn't believe it, since when did they get along so well? It didn't matter, they would all be in for some harsh training together too.

---

**Author's Note Reprise: **OMG, so long xD Most of it was written in one session too so now my hand hurts, haha. In an effort to get this up sooner it's going up un-beta'd so there are a lot of mistakes I'm sure. Future chapters will be beta read first. I'm sorry the fight scene sucks so much. I promise that better ones are coming up soon. Like next chapter soon. I tried to make everything sound believable but I'm not sure it did. Urgh. I promise the next chapter will be more interesting. OOC abounds but then, it is AU. Please review. You won't believe how happy it makes me. Next chapter definitely won't take so long to by updated.

PREVIEW:

"ARGH! Put me down you pervert! What the hell are you talking about?" Naruto beat his fists against the back of Jiraiya.

"I told you. I have to go pick up the next Hokage and you're coming with.

**REVIEW OR I'LL EAT YOU! RAWGH!**


	6. Chapter 6

**An Alternative Path**

**Author's note:** I'm so glad you all loved the last chapter. It freaking took me long enough to write didn't it xD Some of you commented on the OOC, my only reply to that is ARGH! You won't believe how many times I rewrote sections of the last chapter and still couldn't get everyone into character. Hopefully they're back into character for the most part with this chapter. I tried to put less dialogue in and more description but I don't think it worked, hmmm. Oh well. I tried. Anyway this chapter is shorter, a lot shorter, but the next one should be longer, a lot longer, so it evens out right? (Not really xD )

**IMPORTANT: **This story is AU. That means ALTERNATE UNIVERSE. That means I can do whatever the hell I want and you have to suck it up and deal.

**Pairings: **Jeez, some of you people are serious about your pairings. I've even gotten some P.M.s about it. I wish to reiterate, FRIENDSHIP is the strongest influence in my manga. The romance will typically be the 'squint hard to find it' kind.

BTW: I don't own Naruto!

**Splitting the Team, Find Tsunade!**

The funeral for the Sandaime took place on a beautiful sunny day with large, fluffy clouds floating through the azure skylines. Naruto thought it should be raining. He found himself standing under that glaring sun next to Asuma and Konohamaru, occasional shadows passing over the gathering. Apparently the Sandaime had asked that he be allowed to stand with the family in the event of his death.

The entire village was there as they listened to Sarutobi's old teammates speak. Jiraiya had refused to say anything. Telling the council that anything he said of the old man they probably wouldn't want to hear. Naruto smirked at that, reminiscing on the day when he decided to test his _Oroike no jutsu_ on the old man…

Naruto remained steadfast throughout the experience—not releasing a single tear even as Konohamaru wailed beside him. He didn't cry as they lit the funeral pyre or as they carved the Sandaime's name into the memorial stone. That entire day Naruto refused to cry.

---

Sakura thought that even if the world was coming to an end there would still be D-Ranked missions for them to do. Even with the Hokage gone missions were still handed out. She sighed as she and her teamed trudged up the stairs to tell Koharu, who had temporarily taken over mission assignments, that they had completed their latest D-Rank, rebuilding a fence and shed.

They were told by the middle aged chunin by the door to go on in, so Kakashi opened the door and they all stepped inside the Mission's Office. They were surprised to find that they weren't the first ones in there. Looking quite angry, Jiraiya stood in front of a flustered looking Koharu, neither seemed to notice their presence.

"Look, I agreed to go find her didn't I? Then you can agree to let him come. It's just going to be for a month or two." Jiraiya was saying with an edge to his voice.

"He's a genin, he shouldn't be accompanying you on an S-rank mission," Koharu stated calmly.

"It's only S-rank because of the importance. It's not like we're gonna run into any trouble," Jiraiya reasoned with the council member.

"No. He should be here, with his team," Koharu replied firmly.

"_No_, he should be with _me_, learning. I can teach him more than Hatake can." Jiraiya slammed a heavy palm down onto the mahogany desk.

By this time team seven was greatly confused.

"Genin are put in teams for a reason-" Koharu started.

"I'll claim him as my apprentice, I'm sure Hatake will let him switch over to me. You can find some other person for team seven," Jiraiya threatened.

"Why would you want him anyway? The Uchiha-" She was cut off again much to her chagrin.

"The Uchiha has Hatake. I promised Sensei I'd help the boy and damn it that's what I'm gonna do. I owe the boy a little training."

"…Fine. You can take the boy only if Kakashi agrees to it," Koharu sighed defeated.

"I agree." Kakashi smirked and raised a hand in greeting as the arguing pair's heads' whipped around to face the group by the door. "Yo."

"How long have you been there?" Koharu asked, flushing a little in embarrassment.

"Long enough to get the gist of things. Jiraiya-sama, you want to take Naruto with you to find the Godaime, right? So you can train him on the way?" Kakashi asked.

"Yeah. It would be only for a little while and then you can have him back on your team. I just wanted to teach him some things."

"Some of Sensei's techniques right?" Kakashi tilted his head.

"Yeah." Jiraiya nodded.

"What if I wanted to teach him those?" Kakashi suddenly turned defensive.

"You know the Rasengan?" Jiraiya inquired?

"No. Sensei died before he could teach me that one," Kakashi admitted.

"Well that's the one I was going to teach him." Jiraiya replied. "You can teach him anything else, but he's going to learn the Rasengan from me. It's his right."

"You can't teach him that!" Koharu protested, "It's far too dangerous!"

"Like I said, it's his right. You can't tell me what I can and can't teach my student. Besides, it'll be a while before he's anywhere near proficient with it," Jiraiya told Koharu with confidence.

"Hey can we stop talking about me like I'm not even here?" Naruto suddenly butted into the conversation, irked about the entire prospect of it.

"Ah, good, you're here. That means I won't have to track you down!" Jiraiya grinned broadly before reaching down and swinging Naruto up onto his should like a sack of rice. "Come on, we need to hurry. I gotta go get the next Hokage." He began to move towards the door.

"ARGH! Put me down you pervert! What the hell are you talking about?" Naruto beat his fists against the back of the Toad Sannin.

"I told you. I have to go pick up the next Hokage and you're coming with." Jiraiya ignored the pounding fists. "Jeez, you stupid or something?"

"Don't call me stupid you old pervert!" Naruto screamed.

"Don't call me old, brat." Jiraiya had, by this point, made it to the door. "Haruno, Uchiha, don't worry I'll be sure to bring him back in one piece for you."

"Don't bother." Sasuke said.

"What? You teme! Come say that to my face!" Naruto yelled back as Jiraiya was carrying him down some stairs. Sasuke merely swung the door shut, effectively cutting off Naruto's tirade.

"Well, what are you all doing here?" Koharu asked after a couple moments of very awkward silence.

"We came to hand in our report on our mission, ma'am." Sakura replied handing over the scroll with the details on said mission. She was still slightly confused about everything that just happened. "Um, was that Jiraiya-sama, one of the legendary Sannin?" Sakura asked. Her mental picture of him had been much different.

"Yes, unfortunately," Koharu replied.

"Oh." Sakura didn't know what to say; or rather she didn't know where to start. "Is he always like that?" she finally decided on.

"No." Koharu said. "Sometimes he's worse."

"Oh…"

---

Later as they were exiting the tower Sakura turned to her white haired teacher.

"Kakashi-sensei, what are we going to do now that Naruto's gone?" she asked.

"He's not gone forever Sakura. He'll be back in a month or two." Kakashi was currently walking while reading his little orange book. How he managed not to hit anything Sakura couldn't imagine.

"Right, I knew that. I just meant I thought we were supposed to be training more together starting now?"

"Well we were, but it's not like I could have told Jiraiya-sama that he couldn't take Naruto."

"Why not?" Sasuke asked. He was a bit miffed that his teammate got to go on an exciting mission, leaving him without a spar mate.

"Well, it's only right that Naruto gets to train with Jiraiya." Kakashi tried to explain carefully.

"What do you mean?" Sakura asked.

"Hmm, well it's sort of complicated and not really any of your business." Kakashi smiled at her brightly.

"Fine… but still what are we going to do now?" Sakura asked again, her curiosity on both matters still not sedated.

"Same thing we've been doing. Except since Kurenai has her team back and she says you know enough of the basics to continue on your own, you'll be studying Genjutsu from scrolls in your free time. You'll still go to the hospital in the morning but you will now join Sasuke and me at one for training. We'll do some D-ranked missions until Naruto returns." Kakashi explained. "Sasuke, you'll just be training with me still."

"I guess that sounds okay. I actually really like learning about medic stuff." Sakura commented, finally content.

"That's good. I think we'll start some more on your taijutsu though. While I mainly want you to support in battle you need to be able to fight some on your own too." Kakashi told the kunoichi in training.

"Okay!" Sakura agreed. She finally felt like she was getting better.

"What will I be learning Sensei?" Sasuke asked.

"Oh, hmm. Lots more about infiltration and information gathering tactics I think, and some more work with your taijutsu. Some speed and strength stuff too, maybe a couple of lightning jutsus that I know that are good for close combat fighting. Some basic field first aid too, incase you get separated and are hurt or in case Sakura gets hurt." Kakashi flipped a page in his book and walked around a trash can that was in his path. Sakura's eyebrow twitched at his nonchalance in his movements.

"What do you think Naruto will be learning from Jiraiya-sama?" Sakura asked, thinking it would be good to know what he would be doing so she could better study to support him.

"Mostly just the Rasengan I imagine." Kakashi replied.

"You mentioned that earlier, what is it?" Sasuke asked.

"It's a technique designed by my Sensei, the Yondaime. It's an assignation technique and is typically ranked as an A-class jutsu, except in Rock and Cloud where it's ranked as an S-class. It requires no hand signs but needs a lot of chakra control. I never got the chance to really learn it but it's what I based my Chidori off of." Kakashi explained to them.

"Wow…Do you think Naruto can really learn it?" Sakura asked sounding a little awed.

"Well he learned how to Summon, right?" Kakashi asked her back.

"I guess… Why would Jiraiya-sama want to teach him that though?"

"Maybe he thinks Naruto will be able to complete it." That wasn't the real reason, or at least not all of the real reason but Kakashi wasn't about to tell them the truth when even Naruto didn't know it.

"Complete it?" Sasuke asked, prodding his sensei more on the subject.

"Yeah. The Rasengan is incomplete. It's supposed to incorporate the wind element but Sensei never got that far before his death. People with wind affinities are rare, I only know of Naruto and Sensei who had it. Basically Naruto is the only one who can complete it in the entire Leaf."

This made perfect sense to Sasuke, it wasn't because Naruto was talented or strong, it was just luck. He already knew the dobe was lucky.

"Maybe I should start working on the preliminary stuff you'll need to know to do the Chidori, Sasuke." Kakashi mused aloud.

"You want me to learn Chidori?" The Uchiha asked surprised.

"Well if Naruto has the Rasengan it might be a good idea. We can work on that later though. For now we'll do the other stuff." Kakashi put his book into his vest. "Now, this is where I leave you. See you all tomorrow!" He vanished in a puff of smoke.

---

Naruto had figured out that all roads in the Fire country tended to look the same. Long, dusty, rutted and surrounded by forest—there was never much variation. Towns tended to look the same too. Sure the decorations and people were different, but the buildings all kinda looked the same and the villages were usually laid out in the same order. Essentially, traveling in the Fire country got old fast.

Sighing, he tore his eyes away from the road in front of him and looked down at the water balloon held in his hand. He'd been shown by Jiraiya a week and a half ago what to do but he hadn't yet gotten the damn thing to pop yet. The only time it ever popped was when Naruto got frustrated and squeezed it too hard.

Looking forward again Naruto saw Jiraiya walking ten paces in front of him. Suddenly Naruto got a great idea. Smirking evilly Naruto stretched his arm back before hurling the balloon as fast as he could at Jiraiya.

Jiraiya was pretty sure he was lost. He wanted to go to Kekko, but they should have been there already according to the map. He turned the map this way and that trying to determine if he read it wrong. Suddenly a flying object hit him straight in the back of the head, bursting on impact and soaking his hair.

A dark aura surrounded the man, "Na-ru-TO…" The map got ripped in half. "You better RUN!" Jiraiya whirled and took off after his laughing student.

Naruto ran under branches and over bushes laughing maniacally the entire time. Jiraiya was close on his heels. Eventually Naruto burst out from the tree line onto another road, before he could make it to the trees on the opposite sides however; he was grabbed by the back of his collar. Pulled backwards he landed heavily on his butt at Jiraiya's feet.

"You brat… you better be prepared to face the consequences for your…" Suddenly Jiraiya noticed a sign just beyond his student's shoulder at the edge of the road. _'Kekko, Ten Miles'_ it read accompanied by an arrow pointing south, the opposite direction they had been traveling. "…You're one lucky idiot, Naruto. Because you managed to find the right road I won't punish you." Naruto breathed a sigh of relief. "At least, I won't punish you _now_."

---

Three days past after their journey to Kekko and they still hadn't found Tsunade. Sure they heard about her a lot, the Legendary Sucker was after all_ legendary_, but they always seemed to have just missed her every time. It was enough to make even Jiraiya twitch with irritation.

Without warning Naruto suddenly plopped down in the middle of the road. He released a small scream of frustration before throwing the balloon in his hand at a near-by tree.

"Why can I make it work?!" He cried. "Hey, Ero-sannin can't you give me a hint or something?"

"Nope." Was the pervert's quick reply.

"WHY NOT?" Naruto jumped back up to stand in front of Jiraiya. He attempted to glare menacingly at his teacher but the effort was wasted as he stood about a foot shorter than the older man.

"It's something you have to figure out on your own." Jiraiya smirked down at his student, enjoying torturing him like this.

"ARGH! Fine!" Naruto stomped away down the road. For a while there was silence between the pair as Naruto had resumed his training and Jiraiya was trying to read the new map he bought. Suddenly Jiraiya got an idea.

"Hey Naruto, how about you take a break with this technique and I teach you another one?"

"No way! I won't give up!" Naruto told him with fire flashing in his eyes.

"It's not giving up. This technique will be easier for you to learn. Who knows, maybe you'll figure something out if you take a break." Jiraiya told his student. Jiraiya then attempted to fold his map, eventually giving up when it wouldn't fold back into its original shape. He stuck it into his pack before turning to face Naruto. "Okay this is a wind technique so you should pick it up easily. It's called Fuuton: Suko-ru. If you do nothing but put chakra straight into the attack it creates a blast of wind that can push back enemies or allies without hurting them. If you spin the chakra before putting it into the technique it'll create a small tornado that can do minimal damage but will put a good distance between the enemy and you. The more chakra you put into the attack the stronger and more powerful the wind is, got it?"

He then performed three seals and shouted out the name of the attack directing a blast of wind at a nearby tree causing the leaves to be stripped off the branches. "Alright now you try."

"Right!" Flipping through the seals Naruto shouted, "Fuuton: Suko-ru!" Instead of a burst of wind like Jiraiya created, a large tornado formed and began ripping up trees as it made its way through the forest. The tornado dissipated once it got about two hundred feet away, leaving Naruto and Jiraiya to stare at the destruction.

"You might want to try putting less chakra in it," Jiraiya stated calmly, his eyes surveying the tornado's path.

"A lot less."

---

Two weeks later Naruto had finally mastered the first step to learning Rasengan, much to the surprise of Jiraiya who thought it would take three times as long. He was now attempting to master the second step and wasn't having much luck.

Jiraiya on the other hand was having a lot of luck. The last town they'd been in they'd only missed Tsunade by a day, so hopefully they would finally catch up with her in this latest town.

Suddenly a large crowd ran past the two, shouting something about a giant snake. Jiraiya quickly took off, without a word to Naruto, towards the location the villagers were running from. Surprised Naruto ran after him, barely able to keep Jiraiya in his sights.

At one point Naruto lost Jiraiya completely but quickly found him again next to a destroyed wall.

"She was here. Her monstrous strength must have done this. Orochimaru was here too." Jiraiya told him as they both stared at the rubble.

"Orochimaru… He killed the Sandaime didn't he?" Naruto asked remembering Kakashi saying something about it. The memory was mixed up though, the emotions running too high when he'd been told. "He was a leaf nin but then he betrayed us and became a missing nin, right?"

"Yes. He was also once my teammate and he's considered one of the Legendary Sannin, like Tsunade and myself." Jiraiya turned and started walking away from the site. "Come on, we might as well go get something to eat. Tsunade may still be here but I'm hungry, let's eat first."

"Right, but can we at least not go to a bar again?" Naruto followed Jiraiya back the way they had come.

"No." Jiraiya stated.

"Aww, you suck!" replied a pouting Naruto.

---

"Jiraiya?"

"Tsunade?"

"What are you doing here?" They said in unison.

"Drinking." "Looking for you." Came simultaneous replies.

Jiraiya and Naruto had just walked into a bar that looked half-way respectable. To their immense surprise Tsunade was sitting at a booth with a bottle of alcohol in front of her. Her black haired companion, Shizune, sat next to her with a small pink pig in her arms. The four all had mirror image expressions of shock.

"Jeez, this is a day of reunions isn't it?" Tsunade said as she tossed back another serving of sake, her blonde hair moving over her shoulder. She looked worn and slightly rumpled, her eyes not quite focusing as they should.

"What do you mean?" Jiraiya asked even though he was pretty sure what she was talking about.

"That bastard Orochimaru decided to pay me a visit." Tsunade took another drink. "So Sensei is dead, huh?"

"Yes, and that's why I'm here. The council voted you in as the new Hokage." Jiraiya had slid into the seat in front of Tsunade. Naruto sat next to him observing the conversation.

"Che, who in their right mind would want that shit job." Tsunade snorted into her alcohol.

"Hey! You can't say that! Being Hokage is the greatest honor in the village." Naruto shouted at her, deeply offended by her lax comment.

"Who are you, twerp." Tsunade gave him the squinty eye.

"I'm Uzumaki Naruto and I'm gonna be Hokage some day!" Naruto stood up on the bench and struck a pose.

"Get down from there idiot." Jiraiya yanked him back down again.

"You really think you can be Hokage? The Hokage is the greatest ninja in the whole Leaf." Tsunade sneered at him.

"I _will_ be Hokage one day." Naruto told her firmly.

"Being Hokage does nothing but shorten your life. Every single Hokage died for that worthless village, and even more people died trying to become Hokage." Tsunade gritted her teeth, eyes distant.

"So? Everybody dies sometime right? At least they died doing something important." Naruto glared across the table at the busty blonde.

"Hmph, you're an idiot. And I won't do it. Only fools become Hokage." Tsunade picked up the bottle of sake at her elbow and downed the rest of it in one big gulp. "Aah, you'll never be Hokage."

"ARGH! That's it! You're too stupid" Naruto jumped up again and pointed his finger at her. "I guess I'll just have to beat you and show everyone you're not worthy of being Hokage anyway."

"You think you can land a hit on me?" Tsunade asked him mockingly.

"Sure, come on, let's take this outside." Naruto told her, raising an angry fist.

"Alright, let's go."

---

**Author's Note Reprise: **First things first: props to my beta. Sn1ck3erd00dl3, you are the awesome, you are the shit, you rock my socks xD Seriously if you notice a marked improvement to this chapter it's all due to the wonderful Lela(aka Snicky.) Go visit her profile you bunch of losers!

BTW here's a deal for all you readers. For every chapter I get at least 35 reviews to you'll get an Omake about one of the other teams besides Team 7 in the next chapter. If I get 45 reviews you'll get TWO Omakes. How awesome is that? (The answer is very).

Also I do try to respond to any questions or suggestions, but when I get 20 reviews all at once it gets hard to keep up, sorry!

**Jutsu Notes: **Where you get to learn about the few jutsu I make up completely, because in canon world we don't see enough of them.

Fuuton: Suko-ru (Wind Style: Squall)- A Squall is a sudden, powerful burst of wind and where this technique gets its name. A C-rank technique that won't do much damage it is often the first wind jutsu people learn. Masters of the Wind Nature can perform it without the hand signs as it becomes second nature to them.

PREVIEW:

Sakura dodged left under a fist and then right to avoid what would have been a harsh kick to her side. She tried to move behind her target but he merely whirled around and attempted to back hand her. She quickly moved her head back to get out of range of the harsh attack. Sakura then attempted to land a knee into the stomach of her opponent but missed when he dodged it. Frustrated she tried an uppercut to the jaw, leaving her right side wide open for the jab to her abdomen.

**REVIEW OR I'LL EAT YOU! RAWGH!**


	7. Chapter 7

**An Alternative Path**

**Author's note:** Aww, you guys are so nice. I got a bunch of great reviews and I tried to respond to all questions and suggestions. Anyways from here on out it's very A.U. so please stop telling me that that's not the way it happened in the manga, because I know that's not the way it happened in the manga. I know it seems like I'm just changing a bunch of things randomly, but I swear I'm not. There is a method to my madness (sorta). Everything will be made clear in the course of the story (eventually). Seriously, if you want to read about the Valley of the End or about Itachi or whatever, go read the manga. Alright that's the end of that little rant. I just get annoyed when I get reviews and P.M.s asking to see this stuff. I do take suggestions (and there have been some good ones) but you have to remember that these things need to fit into my plot.

Now about concerns of making Naruto too strong or whatever. I haven't gotten much about this but I just want to nip it in the bud (isn't that an awesome idiom?). Remember that Naruto has been training his chakra control almost non-stop for over a month. He's done several exercises (some I haven't even gotten around to mentioning yet) so his control is loads better than in canon. I think that most of Naruto's problems lie in is lack of control, this doesn't mean his control is or ever will be perfect, it just means it's better. The Suko-ru and the Rasengan both rely on control, as do most jutsu, so it's understandable that he'd find it easier if his control were better. Also, he got the Kage Bunshin down in under an hour, from a scroll, so what can he do if he's actually shown the jutsu first? (I think Naruto learns best from example)

Also, it has to be said: Is Orochimaru creepy or what?

**IMPORTANT: **This story is AU. That means ALTERNATE UNIVERSE. That means I can do whatever the hell I want and you have to suck it up and deal.

**Pairings: **Jeez, some of you people are serious about your pairings. I've even gotten some P.M.s about it. I wish to reiterate, FRIENDSHIP is the strongest influence in my manga. The romance will typically be the 'squint hard to find it' kind.

BTW: I don't own Naruto!

**Back in Konoha, Tsunade's Decision**

Sakura dodged left under a gloved fist and then right to avoid what _would_ have been a harsh kick to her side. She tried to move behind her target but he merely whirled around and attempted to back hand her. She quickly moved her head back to get out of range of the harsh attack. Sakura then attempted to land a knee into the stomach of her opponent but missed when he dodged it. Annoyed at how she kept missing, she tried an uppercut to the jaw, leaving her right side wide open for the jab to her abdomen.

Once hit she collapsed to the ground, out of breath and very exhausted. Kakashi straightened from the crouch he'd gone into to hit her and fished his much hated, (ahem, _loathed_) book out of his vest.

"Good, you've gotten better." He told her as he flipped to the last page he'd been reading.

"It doesn't feel like I've gotten any better." She replied petulantly lifting her head from the ground. "I still can't hit you." 'STUPID FREAKING KAKASHI! LOOK I'M ALL SWEATY AND GROSS!'

"Well, I am a jounin and you've really only been training your taijutsu for a month." Kakashi reasoned with her. A groan came from the ground as Sakura let her head drop into the dirt.

"Anyways, Sasuke were you watching?" Kakashi turned around to face the Uchiha sitting in a tall tree twenty feet from where he and Sakura had been sparing. "What did Sakura do wrong?"

"She attacked out of frustration, leaving herself open for a counter," Sasuke replied without much inflection. For the past month, scenes like these had been common. One of them would spar against Kakashi and when they lost, because they _always_ lost, the other one would describe what they did wrong, usually sitting in or around that same tall tree at the edge of the clearing.

"Exactly. You can't let your emotions get the better of you out on the field. It could mean death for you or your teammates." Kakashi sighed as he looked at the sun. It had started its descent into the horizon. Soon it would be too dark to train unless they went to a lighted ground. "Why don't we call it a day, after you tell us what you've been up to with your other training, Sakura." Sakura groaned again as she shuffled sorely to stand up.

"Well I've been practicing some D and C rank genjutsu but I've really only gotten a couple of the D ranks and one of the C ranks down. I've learned a lot at the hospital though about treating wounds and illness the manual way and Shiori-san taught me a couple of jutsu. One is just a diagnostic jutsu, for when the patient can't tell you what's wrong with them, and the other is a pain killing jutsu. It doesn't heal anything but it takes most of the pain away." Sakura was actually very proud of her progress. Her sensei at the hospital, Shiori-san, had told her that she was picking up medical lore much faster than what Shiori had originally anticipated.

"That's great Sakura. You're making some real progress there." Kakashi praised his student. He then turned back to Sasuke. "Now you should share what you've learned with Sakura, Sasuke." When it was the three of them training together they mostly worked on taijutsu and stealth.

Sasuke had jumped down from the tree and had joined his teammates, replying in a bored tone. This was somewhat routine by then. "We've been working on my Sharingan, trying to lengthen the time I can use it. I've also been working on a lightning jutsu that sends a shock through the enemy if I touch them. Other than that I've had to sit through a lot of tactical training sessions with Kakashi." Sasuke sighed after the last part.

"You act as if you don't like the tactical sessions Sasuke-kun." Kakashi smiled at him mockingly.

"..." Sasuke didn't say a word. Kakashi's idea of tactical training seemed to involve playing a lot of Mah Jong. Sasuke could understand if it were Shougi or something but Mah Jong? Seriously.

"Well, that's all for today. I'll see you all tomorrow. We'll do another mission." Kakashi had convinced Koharu to keep giving them D-ranked missions even without Naruto; at least two of them would have better team work. Kakashi was starting to wonder if he really should have sent Naruto off with Jiraiya. Sure, Jiraiya was a Sannin, but this time away from the team could really hurt them in the long run. The fact was though that Jiraiya wanted Naruto and Kakashi wasn't about to say no to his Sensei's Sensei. He at least hoped Naruto was learning a lot.

---

Standing in the middle of the street twenty feet from Tsunade, Naruto couldn't help but think two things. The first was how the street managed to resemble a ghost town, it was jam packed less than twenty minutes ago!; and how annoyed he was at the blonde Sannin. Beating him with _one_ _finger_? That was just crazy. And insulting.

After minutes of trying a few of his more basic techniques, and of course the Kage Bunshin, Naruto had come to one startling conclusion, he was utterly _screwed_. Tsunade had barely moved and she still managed to dodge everything. After being sent flying back by a single finger flick to the head, _a freaking finger flick_, Naruto had stood up shakily, breathing hard. His only hope lay in using the Rasengan, too bad he couldn't do it completely yet. Still, desperate times call for desperate measures and Naruto was precisely that.

Naruto started to form the chakra in his hand, he tried to keep it as tightly packed as he could, emulating the one Jiraiya had shown him. He ended up using his other hand to try to give the Rasengan form but it still fluctuated wildly in his palm. Feeling that there was nothing more he could do and not wanting the whole thing to just blow up in his face, he dashed forwards towards Tsunade.

Tsunade stood in shock. It looked as though the boy was attempting the Rasengan, where had he learned that? _Jiraiya_, of course that idiot must have taught the other idiot. As Naruto tried to slam the partially formed Rasengan at her she deftly reached up and caught his wrist, five fingers wrapped it in an iron grip.

Naruto smirked at her in that still moment of peacefulness and said "I win." before a massive explosion from the failed attack blew the two apart.

Tsunade had managed to flip herself mid-air before landing in a crouch twenty feet from her original position. Naruto wasn't as lucky. He'd been blown back straight into a concrete wall, and while the wall hadn't given in it still hurt immensely to be flung into it.

"You little twerp, just what the hell were you trying to do?!" Tsunade screamed at Naruto as the younger blonde gently started to stand.

"I win. You bet me you wouldn't have to use more than a single finger to beat me, you just used five. You have to apologize." Tsunade felt her jaw drop just a little. He was right! She had made that bet and Naruto had won fair and square. She couldn't believe it, she was even losing to brats now, her luck really was shit.

"I," Suddenly Tsunade had a great idea, another bet, one she was sure not to lose. "How about another bet?" she cut off from her reluctant apology abruptly. "You win this one, not only will I apologize but I'll even give you my greatest treasure." She jerked her thumb at the sparkling crystal secured around her neck.

"Tsunade-sama, you can't!" Shizune yelled from where she'd been standing next to Jiraiya watching the match, Tonton squealing in her arms.

"Don't worry, there's no way I'll lose!" Tsunade threw her head back and laughed maniacally.

"...Right." All three spectators felt compelled to say.

"Why would I want a lousy necklace anyway?" Naruto asked her.

"Because this came from one of the founders of Konoha." She told him. "It's worth a lot of money you know."

"Ehh, fine, whatever. What do I have to do?" Naruto squinted at her.

"One week. I'll give you one week to complete the Rasengan. If you can successfully do it by that time you'll win. If you lose though, you have to admit that you'll never be able to become Hokage." Tsunade smirked at him, confident in her ability to (_finally_) not lose.

"You're on, Baa-chan!" Naruto pointed a finger at the elder lady.

"What the hell did you just call me?!"

---

Six days later and Naruto was lying exhausted under a tree. For the first time he was thankful for all the chakra control exercises he'd been given. Even _he_ had to admit that if not for his improved, but still slightly shaky, control he probably would have blown himself up. He'd managed to complete the last two steps of the Rasengan but he couldn't seem to put them together. It always ended up unstable and likely to explode right in his face. Not a fun experience he'd found out after maybe the fifth time it'd happened.

After lying on the ground for maybe half an hour to recuperate after his latest try, Naruto forced himself back up. He held out his right hand and quickly started gathering chakra in his palm, using his left hand to keep it compressed. It ended up better than last time but still too unstable, as he quickly found out when he got blown five feet away from the tree he'd been practicing on.

"Oww..." He moaned. Suddenly a nap seemed like a great idea and he promptly fell asleep in the shade from the trees.

Shizune, who had been hiding in a tree watching him, sighed a little. She didn't want Tsunade to lose, but she didn't really want this blonde boy to lose either. She was also worried about Orochimaru. The Snake Sannin had said that he'd give Tsunade a week to think over the deal, and the week was up tomorrow. Shizune wondered if Tsunade had arranged the bet to end tomorrow on purpose, or if she'd simply not been thinking about that.

Shizune jumped from her hiding spot and walked over to Naruto. She smiled a little as the boy lightly snored. She had to admit that she liked the hyperactive teen, even if he was a little stupid. She took a small package from her person and laid it down next to the sleeping Naruto. It contained a couple of rice balls for when the boy woke up. She turned to leave only to be confronted with Jiraiya standing a few paces away.

''Come to spy on my student?" Jiraiya asked her.

"No, no, I just wanted to make sure he'd eat something." Shizune shook her head emphatically and pointed towards the food.

"Yeah, the idiot hasn't been eating or sleeping too much, he's determined to win that bet." Jiraiya walked over to Naruto and began nudging him in the side with his toe.

"...Do you think he can?" Shizune asked him.

"I think if anyone can, it's this brat right here." Jiraiya then kicked Naruto hard in the side and told him to get back to work.

He was out like a light, though. Beyond the point of no return full of prancing foxes and exploding trees…

---

Naruto woke up staring at an unfamiliar ceiling. Last he remembered he was in the forest. Something was definitely wrong with this picture. After a moment his brain stated to work again and he realized he must have passed out after that last Rasengan and someone brought him here. Sitting up he saw it was a hotel room, he also realized that it was not his and Jiraiya's room; it was nicer, cleaner, and there was a black kimono lying across the back of a wooden chair.

Before he could make any further observations, the door opened and the small, black haired woman who had been with Tsunade entered. She smiled when she saw him up.

"Good morning! I'm glad you're awake. Are you hungry?" She sat down the small bundle that had been in her arms, it looked to have been laundry.

"Um, yeah." Naruto said just as his stomach gave a loud grumble. "Heh, very hungry."

"Alright, well you can eat that then." She pointed to a large covered bowl on the nightstand. Opening it up Naruto was delighted to find ramen, still warm due to the cover.

"Awesome!" He immediately began slurping it down. After he finished he turned back to Shizune. "Hey hey, you! Where's Baa-chan? I got something to show her."

"My name is Shizune, Naruto-kun. Tsunade-sama went out drinking with Jiraiya last night. Actually I'm getting worried, they haven't returned yet." Shizune began fiddling with the clean laundry, folding it hastily in her anxiety.

"You don't think Tsunade-baa-chan and Ero-sannin..." Both Naruto and Shizune froze, unwanted mental images filling their heads. They quickly began shaking their heads back and forth vigorously to get the images out, both thinking 'Eewwww' and having the sudden need for a bucket…

"No, no I'm _sure_ that didn't happen." Shizune told him. A large crash caused both Naruto and Shizune to whip around, kunai in both their hands. Shizune's eyes widened when she realized what it was, a poison gas bomb had come through one of the windows that lined the walls behind the futons. "Naruto-kun, quick out the window, don't breathe it." She hurriedly followed her own advice and dropped from the window, a separate one from the one that the bomb was thrown, to the neighboring roof below, Naruto right beside her.

"Ugh, who the hell did that?" Naruto said as he coughed a little, trying to make sure none of it got into his lungs.

"I don't know, Naruto-kun, but we need to be careful, they must still be around here somewhere." Shizune looked sharply at the surrounding area, cursing silently to herself when she realized that there were a lot of potential hiding places.

"Well, well, well, what a surprise to meet you here Naruto-kun." A figure with silvery-gray hair and glasses that concealed his eyes stepped out from behind a chimney.

"Eh? Who are you and what is your business here? Not to mention, how do you know my name, freak?" Naruto was greatly confused, this man appeared to be wearing a hitai-ate but it wasn't one Naruto had ever seen before.

"My name is Yukushi Kabuto, Naruto-kun. I am here because this is where my master is." Kabuto told him, ignoring the last question.

"You..." Shizune growled at him. "Where is Tsunade-sama, what did you do to her?"

"Wha? Shizune-nee-chan what are you talking about?" Naruto swung his head back and forth between Shizune and Kabuto.

"This guy works for Orochimaru, he's a traitor to Konoha." Shizune spoke fiercely.

"What! But that's..." Naruto's face darkened as he realized just what the implications were. "Then you were part of the attack on Konoha." He spoke in a rough voice.

"Well yes." Kabuto told him simply. "But really it's Konoha's own fault for what befell them. They're the ones who couldn't even tell when a spy was among them, Naruto-kun."

"Don't call me that you jerk." Naruto snapped at him.

"Naruto, Shizune..." A wheezing Jiraiya stopped beside the other two. "We need to...What's going on?" He'd just spotted Kabuto.

"Oh dear, I'm afraid I wasn't expecting the other Sannin to appear. I appear to be out of my league here, oh well, Tsunade should be almost done healing my master by now, so I guess it doesn't matter very much." With that he quickly left, leaving the three behind to stare at the spot he'd been standing in in shock.

"Shizune, what the hell did he mean by that?" Jiraiya asked the nervous brunette.

"Come on, I'll tell you as we search, we have to find Tsunade-sama." Shizune quickly took off across the roofs with Naruto and Jiraiya lagging behind.

---

"I'm so glad you decided to see things my way." Orochimaru told his old teammate. Tsunade clenched a fist and averted her eyes.

"Let's just get this over with, before we get interrupted." Tsunade bit out.

"Of course, Tsunade dear." Orochimaru smirked at her, believing things to finally be going his way.

Tsunade moved closer and placed her hands over his blackened arms. Chakra began to envelope them and Orochimaru was smiling in triumph. Suddenly the smile faded as he realized something was wrong.

"What are you-" Several kunai came out of the air, headed for Tsunade. She had no other choice than the leap backwards she executed to avoid them, cursing because she wasn't able to finish her technique. Kabuto quickly appeared beside Orochimaru

"I see, so you planned to betray me all along. Don't you care anything for your loved ones?" Orochimaru asked her.

"Dan and Nawaki are dead, and nothing can ever bring them back the way they were, especially not someone as dark and twisted as you." Tsunade spat at him. "However, I can stop you here and make sure no one else has to die at your mercy."

"Fine, if it's a fight you want it's a fight you'll get, Tsunade. But I wonder, are you in any condition to fight, what with that pesky phobia of yours?" Orochimaru bit down on his own lip and watched as Tsunade froze, her eyes glued on the blood trailing down his chin from the self inflicted wound.

"You…you won't…scare me." Tsunade forced out dropping into a stiff stance, her eyes still focused on the blood.

"Oh, is that so? Kabuto."

Kabuto shot towards Tsunade, bringing his hand up in an attempt to get at her neck. Tsunade dodged, but barely, and tried to return a punch to his jaw, but the motion was slow and jerky and Kabuto easily avoided it. Spinning she attempted kick him in the stomach, but the traitor managed to leap backwards at the last second. An exchange of blows continued on for several minutes, neither actually landing a hit on the other. Kabuto's left foot shot out from under him, a loose stone had thrown off his balance. Using the opportunity Tsunade punched him in the chest.

The punch wracked Kabuto with coughs, one of them calling up blood to fly out and spatter on Tsunade's face. She screamed and choked, taking several hurried steps backwards before slipping and falling onto her knees. She wiped furiously at her face to get the specks of blood off, in her distraction she didn't see Kabuto heal himself and start moving towards her.

"My, that fear of yours is quite debilitating isn't it? That's too bad, once you were the greatest healer in the world, and now look at you, a doctor cowering at the sight of blood." Kabuto's voice mocked her, but she'd stopped listening, too concerned with the blood on her skin. He raised a hand and coated it with deadly looking green chakra, thrusting it towards Tsunade's unprotected neck.

"Fuuton: Suko-ru!" A large gust of wind forced Kabuto back. Tossing him up into the air and forcing him to twist midair in order to land on his feet thirty feet from his original position.

"Hey Baa-chan, you okay?" Naruto ran towards Tsunade with Shizune and Jiraiya right behind him. Looking at her blank expression and twitching fingers he frowned. "Hey, you paying attention?" He crouched down and waved his hand back and forth in front of Tsunade's eyes. "Hello? Is this a jutsu or something?" He turned towards Jiraiya for an answer but it was Shizune who replied.

"No. Tsunade-sama is afflicted with Hemophobia." Shizune kneeled in front of her mistress and began wiping the blood away with her sleeve.

"Eh? What's that?" Naruto asked.

"It means she's afraid of blood, Naruto." Jiraiya told him. "Come on, pay attention. We're on a battlefield you know." He forced Naruto into a fighting stance by pulling and pushing on Naruto's shoulder. They were now facing Orochimaru, Kabuto back at his side.

"Well, if it isn't my other teammate, Jiraiya." Orochimaru purred at him, sending shivers down the spines of Jiraiya and Naruto.

"So that's Orochimaru, ugh he's creepy." Naruto said loudly, causing the Snake Sannin to frown.

"And just who are you?" Orochimaru thought the boy looked familiar but he just couldn't place the blonde.

"I'm Uzumaki Naruto, and I won't let you hurt Baa-chan anymore." He had heard from Shizune Tsunade's story. He even identified with it just a little. He still didn't like what Tsunade had said about Hokages, but he wouldn't stand by and watch her suffer either.

"Uzumaki... Ah I see, you're the demon brat." Orochimaru smiled sadistically and Naruto thought that somewhere a baby _must_ have just died.

"Shut up. You have no right to even talk to him." Jiraiya glared at his former teammate. Sure, Naruto was annoying as hell, but he tried hard and he was loyal, and he wasn't going to let someone stand around and insult him.

"Oh, have we grown attached to the little monster? I never knew you liked kids." Orochimaru mocked.

"No, no, we all know who it was that liked kids on our team." Jiraiya sneered back.

"I don't like what you're insinuating, Jiraiya." Orochimaru replied with a sneer.

"What? I meant Tsunade." Jiraiya grinned at him. "What were you thinking of?"

"Can we just beat him up already?" Naruto interrupted, not understanding what they were talking about but not liking the tone either.

"Sure of yourself, are you?" Kabuto asked him.

"Sure I could grind those glasses into your face." Naruto snapped back.

"Well let's just see about that, hm?" Kabuto dashed towards Naruto, launching a bunch of kunai into the air. Unable to dodge due to Shizune and Tsunade still huddled on the ground behind him, Naruto did the first thing that came to mind.

"Fuuton: Suko-ru!" The gust of wind scattered the flying weapons and forced Kabuto to take cover from their now random flight. Recovering quickly, Kabuto once again headed for Naruto, who was headed away from Tsunade. A powerful kick forced him to the ground fifteen feet away from the others.

"Now what will you do, Naruto-kun?" Kabuto adjusted his glasses, causing light to flash off the lens.

"This." Naruto grabbed a fist full of paper strips from a pouch on his belt. Coating each of the inch-long strips in chakra he flung them at Kabuto, directing their movement carefully with yet more chakra. Kabuto raised an eyebrow at him and didn't even bother getting out of the way, sensing that they were nothing more than normal paper and not exploding tags. Soon however he felt sharp, stinging pains all along his arms and face, essentially anywhere he wasn't clothed.

"What the?" He mumbled as he quickly jumped back away from the attack. He quickly burned away the few apposing pieces still hovering in the slight breeze with a Katon before turning back to the blonde. "Very clever, what kind of attack was that?"

"It's actually a chakra control exercise. I surround the paper with my chakra and it becomes sharp as any blade. I can even control them a little since it's still my chakra and I connect a tiny string of more chakra to the paper." Naruto grinned at his successful attack.

"I see, and what give you the idea to use such an exercise as an attack?" Kabuto asked him, buying for time to heal is wounds.

"Well, I didn't actually think of it, Sakura-chan did. She said that since I could make the paper sharp enough to cut down trees than I should be able to cut people too. Once she said that though I realized I would need a way to control them. I asked her and she told me that thin, invisible strings of chakra could be used to move the paper. It took a couple of weeks to get down though; my control actually sucks a lot."

"Hmm, interesting." Kabuto took off towards Naruto again, surprising the boy who just realized that the wounds inflicted by his attack were gone. "What else you got?" Kabuto swung a green-chakra covered hand at Naruto who managed to jump back in the nick of time.

"Just a couple more tricks. Kage Bunshin!" Ten copies of Naruto sprang up and launched themselves at Kabuto. While the bunshins were blocking Kabuto's field of vision, Naruto began funneling chakra into his hand. Using his left hand, Naruto shaped the Chakra in his right into a swirling blue ball. Just as the last Kage Bunshin was puffed out of existence Naruto finished and ran towards the silver-haired traitor. Jumping up he managed to catch Kabuto somewhat off guard. "RASENGAN!" He shouted out in a loud war cry. Kabuto just barely managed to avoid taking the hit in the chest, taking it in the shoulder instead. Before he was sent flying he managed to tap Naruto hard, right above the heart, with his green hand, causing Naruto to crumple, unconscious.

Jiraiya, who had been facing off against Orochimaru in the meantime, jumped back away from his opponent when he heard the shout of Rasengan. He couldn't believe it, but it looked like a fully formed Rasengan! The pride faded though when he saw Naruto fall to the ground limp.

"NARUTO!" He shouted running as fast as he could to the boy. Picking him up gently he was relieved to feel a slow but steady heart beat. He figured that whatever Kabuto had done, the Fox was already healing. He carried the boy over to a worried Shizune and a slightly dazed Tsunade.

"Twerp?" Tsunade said, confused. She hadn't been paying attention to the world around her until this moment. She reached out a shaky hand to touch his face and felt her fingers clench in anger. "What happened?" She asked, swinging her head back and forth between Shizune and Jiraiya.

"He was protecting you from Orochimaru and Kabuto. He managed to hit Kabuto in the shoulder with a Rasengan but Kabuto got him in the chest with some weird attack." Jiraiya told her, disappointment with the female Sannin evident in his voice.

"He was fighting…for me?" Tsunade said incredulously no louder than a whisper. "Why?"

"Because, one day he's going to be Hokage, and that's what Hokages do."

---

**Author's Note Reprise: **Once again give it up for the Snick-meister! xD She'll probably die when she reads that, haha. But seriously, the awesomeness of this chapter would be greatly diminished if not for the beautiful (I assume) Snicky. But man did she get the beta-version back to me fast, I thought it would be Saturday before I got it and here it was not even 7 hours later. Talk about speed xD Anyways I love this chapter, love love love this chapter. It's my favorite out of the story so far. And I told you it would be longer. I hope you all liked the fight scenes because I cannot write fight scenes worth a darn. Seriously, it's kind of sad. I tried hard though, since you know, the Gaara one sucked so bad. Next chapter will be out in a week again. That one should be fun too xD

**Jutsu Notes: **None this chapter!

**Snicky's Notes: **Mah Jong involves skill, strategy, and calculation, as well as a certain degree of luck. Depending on the variation in which it is played, luck can be anything from a minor to a dominant factor in success. In Asia, Mah Jong is also popularly played as a gambling game. (it uses tiles like Shougi or, (sorta-ish) Go.

We all love wikipedia, no?

PREVIEW:

"Why are you fighting so hard for that boy?" Orochimaru screamed at her as she blocked yet another attack meant for the blond behind her.

"Because, I'm the Hokage, and that's what Hokages do."

**REVIEW OR I'LL EAT YOU! RAWGH! ALSO 35+ REVIEWS AND YOU GET AN OMAKE!**


	8. Chapter 8

**An Alternative Path**

**Author's note:** Hmm sorry this chapter is late, haha I suck. My excuses: Sickness, 15 page research paper, Anthropology project, Japanese test, Thanksgiving, Work, Christmas Shopping, Finals, and an Anime Convention. (SugoiCon Rocks!) Anyways finals are just about over so I'll more time to work on the story soon. I have a month off before school starts back up, and even though I will be without internet for a week and a half during that time, I'll try to put up at least three more chapters of the story before I have to start my classes. This chapter is, not that long, so sorry! But some good things happen so that's fun! And the next chapter has the reunited team 7 going on a mission together with another genin team, which team is a secret though

Also, it still has to be said: Is Orochimaru creepy or what?

Anyways after this chapter the fun really begins because it's all AU from here.

**IMPORTANT: **This story is AU. That means ALTERNATE UNIVERSE. That means I can do whatever the hell I want and you have to suck it up and deal.

**Pairings: **Jeez, some of you people are serious about your pairings. I've even gotten some P.M.s about it. I wish to reiterate, FRIENDSHIP is the strongest influence in my manga. The romance will typically be the 'squint hard to find it' kind.

BTW: I don't own Naruto!

**Legendary Battle,** **The Strength of Tsunade**

"Shizune! Hurry up and help me with this!" Tsunade had finally lurched out of her daze and had begun pulling furiously at the zipper on Naruto's jacket. Eventually it came loose and Shizune cut away the black T-shirt underneath with a kunai. Shoving Shizune out of her way, Tsunade placed her hands right above Naruto's heart and funneled green chakra into his body.

"He's going to be okay right?" Jiraiya asked as he watched Orochimaru and Kabuto warily.

"He'll be fine. Some of the veins and arteries above his heart were severed but the heart wasn't hit and the Nine Tails has already repaired the life threatening damage." Tsunade told him in her best doctor voice. "Shizune, go stand with Jiraiya. Make sure those two don't come near us while I'm distracted." Shizune nodded sharply before moving next to Jiraiya, senbon needles held safely between her fingers.

Kabuto was holding a hand over his left shoulder. The pain was tremendous and he was having a tough time healing it. The Rasengan had only grazed him really but it had managed to cut some of the nerves running down his arm, leaving it hanging near useless at his side. What he couldn't understand was why it was so damn hard to heal.

"You can't heal it can you?" Jiraiya called across the field, surprising the Sound pair.

"What are you talking about?" Orochimaru frowned before sliding his eyes to his right hand man. He was greatly worried when he saw the still bleeding wound though it didn't show.

"The Rasengan shreds everything, even the cells. Makes it hard to regenerate them through cell division and slows down normal healing as well. Even with _your_ ability that's gonna take a couple of days to be at one hundred percent again." Jiraiya smirked proudly. "You may have knocked the kid unconscious but he did quite a number on you as well."

Kabuto scowled fiercely. His arm wouldn't be much good for this fight, and Orochimaru's were useless as well. They were no match against Jiraiya and Shizune, and that was even counting Tsunade.

"Kabuto. Forget the others. As long as we kill the boy." Orochimaru murmured so that the opposing three could not hear. "With the boy dead that will be one less thing to worry about. And I can stick it to those Akatsuki bastards, heheh what will they do if the Nine Tails is dead?"

"Right." Kabuto wasn't quite sure how he was suppose to make close enough to Naruto to kill him but he wasn't about to tell Orochimaru that. Deciding that distraction would, doubtlessly, be the way to go, Kabuto ran towards the left, away from the boy. Jiraiya followed his movements and leapt after the silver haired man swiftly. Once the younger judged himself far enough away he threw down several smoke bombs he had with him before tossing a barrage of kunai through the smoke towards Naruto.

Blinded by the smoke that stung his eyes; Jiraiya couldn't block the knives. Shizune however was far enough away not to be troubled by the smoke and moved deftly to deflect the various kunai from harming the blonde boy.

Taking advantage of the distracted pair, Orochimaru ran towards Tsunade and Naruto. Bringing the Kusanagi up from his throat he made to stab Naruto before Tsunade could move; only to find it blocked by a kunai in Tsunade's steady hand.

Tsunade however was in a bad position. Kneeling on the ground she could not get up the proper leverage to force the sword away. Rearing back, Orochimaru knocked Tsunade off balance before trying to, once again, impale Naruto's heart. Off balance and desperate, Tsunade threw herself on top of Naruto, gasping as the sword entered just under her lung. Before anything else could happen Orochimaru was forced back by an extremely pissed off Jiraiya.

Leaving Jiraiya to deal with Orochimaru and Shizune to deal with Kabuto, Tsunade lifted herself up, wincing slightly, and frantically checked Naruto. She sighed in relief when she realized that the sword hadn't pierced the boy even though it had gone completely through her. Now assured, she began to use healing chakra on herself to repair the damage and neutralize the Kasunagi's effects.

Shizune was aggravated to find that she was having trouble with Kabuto, even though he could barely use his left arm. He had a number of techniques that didn't require handseals or his left arm and his taijutsu was much better than her own. Suddenly she lost track of Kabuto with her eyes before feeling him coming up behind her, she tried to turn but was too slow before the harsh strike to her neck, rendering her unconscious. She fell limply to the ground with a dull _thud_, succumbing to the darkness.

Kabuto had turned and started towards Naruto and Tsunade before Shizune had even hit the ground. Grabbing a loose Kunai off the dirt where it had fallen earlier, he moved as fast as he could around the injured Tsunade, positive she would be too slow to stop him—only to be greatly shocked by a kick to his stomach that sent him flying away.

"Back off." Tsunade bit out, fighting back the pain in her abdomen. The wound had yet to completely close and she'd just jerked it back open with her kick.

"Sorry, I just can't do that." Kabuto told her in that fake pleasant voice of his before moving once again towards the boy. Tsunade jumped to once again intercept him when a tear bomb went off straight in her face. Blinded, she couldn't see what Kabuto was doing. Hearing a small sound to the left she threw herself in that direction only to feel a burning pain in her right shoulder as the result. Kabuto had ended up jamming his kunai into her.

Now sure of Kabuto's location, Tsunade gave a massive punch with her uninjured left arm, hitting Kabuto in his injured left shoulder. Kabuto choked and groaned as he felt the joint give way under Tsunade's fist. Stumbling back he sank to the ground as waves of pain came from his now doubly injured arm. Now frantic to complete his assignment, Kabuto reached into his pouch for the last of his shuriken before tossing them at both Tsunade and the younger blonde, hoping to leave her defending herself and unable to help the boy.

Orochimaru was able to watch the whole thing as he dodged each attack Jiraiya sent after him. Growing angry that Kabuto could not kill one little boy thanks to Tsunade, he finally had enough.

"Why are you fighting so hard for that boy?" Orochimaru screamed at her as she blocked yet another attack meant for the blond behind her.

"Because," the woman never let her eyes stray from her own battle with Kabuto, "I'm the Hokage, and that's what Hokages do."

"Even if it kills you?" Orochimaru asked as he dodged yet another fire jutsu from the white haired man.

"_Especially_ if it kills me." Tsunade replied. Grievously hurt, she still managed to stand a little straighter as she spoke.

Pulling the kunai savagely out of her shoulder, she launched it directly at Kabuto's face. The man quickly managed to knock it aside but was unprepared for the punch to the side of his face that quickly followed it.

Seeing that his spy was greatly out-matched and he himself unable to fight with his full ability, Orochimaru bit back a vehement curse.

"Kabuto, come, we're leaving." Kabuto quickly appeared at his master's side before the two of them managed to escape by melding into the ground.

As the adrenaline faded from his body and the roar of blood pounding in his ears faded, Jiraiya looked to the others. Naruto and Shizune were unconscious, and Tsunade was just about there from all the blood she was spilling. Yet Jiraiya had only one thing to say.

"Well, damn."

---

Naruto awoke to yet another unfamiliar ceiling. He was starting to get sick of it. He wondered what he was doing there before the events of the fight came drifting back to him. Now slightly panicked, he sat up hurriedly only to be pushed back down again.

"Relax, they're gone." A female voice told him. Looking to his left he saw the blond haired Sannin sitting by his bed.

"What happened?" Naruto asked her before panic set in again. "HEY! Are you okay? Did those bastards hurt you? Where's Ero-sannin and Shizune-nee-chan?" He'd attempted to sit back up only to be forced down once again.

"I said relax twerp. I'm fine, the pervert's fine, Shizune's fine, and the bastards are gone." She told him.

"Well that's good." Naruto said; relief flooding his words, "What happened?"

"The four-eyed bastard hit you with a special attack that severed some of the arteries leading to your heart. You're fine now; me and the fox healed you. Don't worry though, you got old four-eyes pretty good yourself, which reminds me..." Tsunade lifted her necklace up over her head. "This belongs to you now." She settled the necklace around his neck. "And also, I'm sorry. Being the Hokage doesn't mean you're stupid or a fool, it just means you love Konoha and everyone in it so much that you'd rather die than see them hurt. A long time ago I had some very precious people who felt that way, but when they died I forgot that. I forgot that to them death was preferable if it meant others wouldn't suffer. You helped me remember that." She smiled at him. "But don't think for a moment that I want to be the Hokage for the rest of my life! You better hurry up and become stronger than me so that I can pass on that ugly old hat to you soon."

Naruto looked at her in astonishment.

"Wait, does that mean you're gonna be the Hokage after all?" He sat up once again, expecting Tsunade to push him back down, but the shove never came.

"Yep, hehehe soon you'll have to call me Hokage-sama." The blond woman snickered.

"Che, yeah right! I never once called the Old Man Hokage-sama and I'm not gonna start with you Baa-chan!" Naruto announced at the top of his lungs. A vein twitched under Tsunade's eye.

"Why you little twerp! How dare you call me old!" She immediately launched herself at him. "Take this! Noogie of One Thousand Years of Pain! Aaaahhh!" She locked one arm around Naruto's neck and used the other to drive her first painfully into Naruto's head.

"Ow ow ow! What the hell! You named that!" Naruto screamed.

One floor below in the Inn's tea shop, Shizune and Jiraiya were calmly sipping tea (or sake) when the sounds of screaming reached their ears.

"Seems like they're getting along well." Jiraiya remarked calmly.

"Right." Shizune drawled slightly, embarrassed as the other patrons looked around in confusion.

---

Two days later, they were on the road back to Konoha, having had sufficient time to convalesce. Jiraiya had quickly set Naruto back on practicing the Rasengan; as he did so as telling Tsunade anything and everything about his life in Konoha, starting with his childhood and working his way though the present. Currently he had just started talking about Team Seven.

"You'll have to meet them Baa-chan! They're great! Well Sasuke's a bit of a bastard and Sakura-chan can hit pretty hard and Kakashi-sensei is always late and usually reading porn all the time, but usually they're great." Suddenly the Rasengan in his hand exploded sending Naruto back fifteen feet.

"Naruto-kun, are you okay?" Shizune ran to his side and began checking him over for injuries.

"I'm fine." "He's fine." Naruto and Jiraiya said at the same time. Hopping back up Naruto proved it by swinging his arms around in great circles.

"Brat you need to focus on the Rasengan, so shut up." Jiraiya told him.

"But I haven't finished telling Baa-chan all about Konoha!" Naruto cried.

"What have I told you about calling me Baa-chan!?" Tsunade growled almost not so playfully as she punched him lightly in the back of the head. Of course it was light, but Naruto still winded up groaning on the ground.

"Tsunade already knows about Konoha, she did live there, remember?" Jiraiya told him ignoring what was happening to his pupil.

"Yeah but she doesn't know about my Konoha!" Naruto defended springing back up from the ground.

"Fine, whatever, just don't blame me if you blow yourself to smithereens 'cause you're too distracted by talking." Jiraiya said before moving twenty feet in front of the group so he wouldn't have to hear Naruto blabber.

"Hey you know Naruto-kun, all this training got me thinking." Shizune started before Naruto could begin his monologue again. "Maybe I could teach you some medic jutsu, would you like that?"

"Yeah, but I can't." Naruto told her.

"Why not?" Tsunade asked. She'd actually been thinking the same thing, although she was going to hold off offering until Jiraiya had finished training him.

"My chakra control's no good for healing." Naruto explained. "Kakashi-sensei said that since I have so much chakra and since it's wind natured my control would probably never get above average. I probably will never be able to do genjutsu either he said. Besides, Ero-sannin said that since the fox's chakra is continually mixing a little with mine it might cause any medic jutsu to actually hurt the person. And anyways Sakura-chan is gonna be our team medic, she's already been training at the hospital!"

"Oh, you're teammate wants to learn to be a medic-nin?" Tsunade asked him, curiosity peaked. Young girls who wanted to train to be medics were rare.

"Yeah. She told me once that she never really thought she'd ever be useful because anything she could do, me or Sasuke could do better. But both me and Sasuke's control is no good for healing stuff, and Kakashi-sensei only knows the most basic of basics so now she has something all her own she can do."

---

Back in Konoha, three people sneezed.

"That's odd, it must be the dust." Sakura said as she delicately wiped her nose. She, Sasuke, and Kakashi were currently on yet another mission to find, as they had begun to call it, The Cat from Hell.

"Or maybe someone's talking about us." Kakashi told her with a smile.

"Who would be talking about all of us though?" Sakura asked him before thinking about it. There was a moment of silence as they all gave it thought.

"Naruto." They sighed at the same time.

"When's the dobe supposed to be back anyway? He should be here helping us with this damn cat." Sasuke growled as he looked under a bush without any real effort.

"Actually, it's probably better that he's not here, you know how much Tora hates him." Sakura said as she walked up a tree to look higher for the beast. That thing had _no_ right to be called a common house cat.

"Sakura's right. Once Naruto does get back I'm probably going to have to request that we not be given this mission again." Kakashi was not looking around; he was, rather, standing around reading his book.

"Are you serious? Why?" Sakura asked as Sasuke swung his head back to look at their teacher incredulously.

"Well, I never realized before just how much harder this mission is with Naruto. Not to mention the cat always attacks him. Frankly I'm surprised Naruto never impaled the creature with a kunai, especially after that time I had to send him to the hospital after what that cat did. It just wouldn't be prudent for us to take on this mission with the likelihood that Naruto will be forced to attack it out of defense." Kakashi looked up. "Why aren't you two looking?"

"You could help you know." Sasuke told him coolly before moving silently to the next bush, slightly ticked but relieved this could be the last time they were doing this.

"Now I can't wait for Naruto to get back." Sakura said as she hopped to the next tree. "Still, I wonder why Tora hates him so much. Naruto said that most animals hate him."

"Not hate, fear." Kakashi said before he could process it.

"Why would animals fear the dobe?" Sasuke asked in hope of an adequate answer.

Kakashi ignored him, opting to give a light giggle instead. Just as Sasuke was contemplating launching a kunai at his teacher, Sakura gave a triumphant shout.

"Found him!" She stood in a tall oak holding up the cat in both hands.

"Great, let's head back then." Kakashi snapped his book closed and walked quickly out of the forest, Sasuke and Sakura trailing behind.

---

Two weeks later Team Kakashi was at the Hokage's tower when they were given some good news: Jiraiya was returning today with the next Hokage—which meant that Naruto was returning too.

"It's about time!" Sakura exclaimed. "They've been gone for a month and a half!"

Sasuke nodded his agreement and Kakashi just smiled.

"Well since today is a special occasion why don't we go wait for them by the gates instead of going on another D-ranked?" Kakashi suggested.

"Hell Yeah!" Sakura pumped her fist in the air before noticing the strange looks she'd gotten due to her outburst. "I mean, sure, that sounds great."

It turned out that waiting by the gate was very boring. Kakashi had quickly taken out his book upon arriving, ignoring his students and the chunin guards. After half an hour, Sakura began practicing her genjutsu out of boredom while Sasuke worked on activating and deactivating his Sharingan. They all ignored the weird looks the chunin guards were giving them.

After an hour though, one of the guards got up the nerve to ask Kakashi a question.

"Er, what are you doing here?"

"We are waiting for our last teammate to arrive." Kakashi looked up from his book and smiled at the guards. "Why, are we bothering you?"

"No, no, just... I'm going back over there now." The chunin guard quickly moved back to his post, creeped out slightly by Kakashi's odd smile.

Two more hours passed uneventfully, except for the one time Sakura had screamed out 'Where the hell is he!' at the top of her lungs, causing the chunin guards to jump out of surprise. Just as Sasuke was beginning to think that going home would be a good idea a voice drifted out of the woods close to the gate.

"Look! Look Baa-chan, the gates!"

"That's Naruto!" Sakura scrambled up from where she'd been sitting against the wall.

"That's it! I've had it you twerp!" A female voice cried. A slight scuffle could be heard. "Take this! Noogie of the Beautiful Woman's Revenge. Aaaahhh!"

"Ow! What the hell! It's the same thing! You gave it a different name! Ow, ow, ow!" It was Naruto again.

Team Seven, minus Naruto, and the chunin guards shared looks of confusion before a small group of people came out of the woods.

In front was Jiraiya looking as though absolutely nothing odd was going on behind him; then came Naruto being dragged along by a beautiful blonde woman currently occupied in giving him one of the harshest noogies anyone had ever seen. After those two came, a young woman with short black hair, looking slightly worried, and carrying a pig in her arms followed shortly.

"Naruto!" Sakura shouted. At the sound of her voice the middle pair stopped moving and looked around. Spotting his teammates, Naruto quickly and quite easily burst out of Tsunade's arms.

"Sakura-chan! Kakashi-sensei!" Suddenly his voice became monotonous. "And the teme."

"Dobe." The two then proceeded to glare at each other before Tsunade came up behind Naruto placing a hand on his shoulder and leaning a little of her weight on him.

"Who're your friends, twerp?" She asked with a smile on her face.

"These are my teammates." Naruto smiled broadly up at her, unfazed by her actions. "This is Haruno Sakura-chan, Hatake Kakashi-sensei, and Uchiha Sasuke-teme. Guys this is Baa-ch-" He was cut off by a sudden blow to the back of his head. "OW! What was that for Baa-chan!" He turned to look at her angry face.

"I told you not to call me that! A certainly don't introduce me like that!" She screamed back at him.

"Fine fine. This is Tsunade, she's gonna be the next Hokage, and them over there are Shizune-nee-chan and Tonton." Naruto waved over at the others.

"You could at least give me an honorific." The blonde told him shaking a fist.

"Hey! What do you want! at least I didn't call you Baa-chan!" Naruto argued back.

Shizune had by this time moved up to greet the others.

"Please just ignore them; they're like this all the time." She sighed a little as she shook her head.

"Okay." Kakashi smiled at her.

"How can you stand it?" Sasuke asked her eyeing the still fighting pair.

"Oh no, it's really very nice to hear. Tsunade-sama is so much happier with Naruto-kun around. She never used to be so cheerful."

The others watched as Naruto got knocked into the ground by Tsunade's fist.

"You call that cheerful?"

Shizune just laughed. Maybe a little nervously.

**Omake: Gambling with Naruto**

Five days into their trek back to Konoha and they were out of money.

"What the hell! Jiraiya! Why didn't you bring more money!" Tsunade currently had Jiraiya by the neck and was shaking him, causing his head to wobble back and forth like a chicken's would.

"I'm sorry! It took a lot longer than I thought to find you and then we had to pay the hospital cause you blacked out after Orochimaru left and I couldn't just leave you three lying around untreated!" Jiraiya tried to defend himself.

"Well then I guess we only have one option." Tsunade said.

"Oh no Tsunade-sama I don't think th-" Shizune was cut off by a loud laugh.

"Hahahaha! We'll have to gamble!"

---

Two hours later found the four plus a pig in a large, completely shady, gambling den. Tsunade had been losing what was left of their money rather steadily. Finally, when they were left with just enough for one bowl of ramen Naruto lost his temper.

"What the hell! All you do is lose! How hard could poker possibly be!" Naruto asked her.

"What? Well if you think it's so easy, you try." She handed him the money and got up from her seat, gesturing for him to take it.

"Gladly! I couldn't do any worse than you." Naruto sat down and picked up the cards dealt to him. He wasn't quite sure of how to win but after watching Tsunade for an hour he knew how not to win and surely that was the same as knowing how _to_ win, right? Without trading any of his cards he placed in all his money. The others around the table smirked and matched him, each sure he didn't know what the hell he was doing (they were right, unfortunately).

"Call," One of them said, laying down his cards. "Three of a kind." The others around the table groaned, not having anything better then pairs. The first man reached to take the money before an iron grip snagged his arm.

"Wait, look." Slightly dazed Tsunade let go of the man's arm. She pointed to Naruto's hand where the ten, jack, queen, king, and ace of hearts were laid out.

"Um, none of my cards match." Naruto said before being enveloped in a gigantic hug by Tsunade.

"Doesn't matter, you won!" Tsunade squeezed him tightly. "You won, you won, you won!" She chanted merrily.

"Ca-can't br-breath." Naruto choked out before being dumped back into his chair.

"Okay, deal out the next hand!" Tsunade said.

---

Two more hours later and Naruto had cleaned everyone in the place out, never getting a hand worse than two pair. Tsunade was in rapture and babbling something about having Naruto pay off all her debts for her. Jiraiya was in shock and quickly plotting to hit the gambling halls in every town on the way back. Shizune was counting the money for the eighth time, completely disbelieving its amount.

Naruto just wondered how Tsunade could be so bad at something so easy.

**Author's Note Reprise: **Once again give it up for Snicky, Wooo!

Anyways again, sorry for the horrible lateness of this chapter. The next should be out it about a week and a half, barring any natural or academic disasters.

I would like to take a moment at say this: You, the Readers, rock my socks, seriously. 200+ reviews, 30,000+ page views, 52 c2s, 180+ faves, and 300+ alerts, that's just awesome, although those of you alerting but not reviewing, What's up with that?

**Jutsu Notes: **None this chapter!

PREVIEW:

"Heya Baa-chan!" Naruto called merrily as he and his team walked through the door. Suddenly his head snapped back as a heavy desk clock hit him in the face.

"Why the hell did I agree to give that twerp a C-rank mission?" Tsunade sighed as she sat back down behind her desk, having stood to throw the clock.

"What did you do that for?" Naruto threw the clock back at her only to growl in frustration when she merely lifted her hand to catch it.

**REVIEW OR I'LL EAT YOU! RAWGH! 35+ Reviews Gets You An OMAKE!**


	9. Chapter 9

**An Alternative Path **

**Author's note: **Chapter Nine, Woot! This chapter is brought to you by the letter R and the Number 72. I wonder if anyone even reads this thing…. Oh well I enjoy writing it. You all were awesome with all the reviews 266, wow! I'm so excited, that's 57 reviews since the last chapter was posted, wow! This chapter was hell on wheels. I'm still not satisfied with the beginning, but the rest is okay. I'm trying to build relationships so there isn't much action. Luckily there's a lot of action next chapter, which is the conclusion of the mission started this chapter, so yay!

**IMPORTANT: **This story is AU. That means ALTERNATE UNIVERSE. That means I can do whatever the hell I want and you have to suck it up and deal.

**Pairings: **Jeez, some of you people are serious about your pairings. I've even gotten some P.M.s about it. I wish to reiterate, FRIENDSHIP is the strongest influence in my manga. The romance will typically be the 'squint hard to find it' kind.

**BTW: **I don't own Naruto!

**Working Together, A C-Rank Mission**

The day after Naruto returned found Team Seven at their usual meeting place. After waiting the customary hour for Kakashi to arrive, they quickly retired to a nearby training field.

"Well, I think the first thing we need to do is get reacquainted with each other," Kakashi told them with a small smile. "So, why don't we share what's new, starting with Sakura."

"Umm…" Sakura was a unprepared for being put on the spot but quickly started to explain her training, mostly just to Naruto as Sasuke and Kakashi had already heard it. "I've learned a lot of Genjutsu and medicine theory. I've managed to learn a few genjutsu, there's actually a lot to choose from because Genjutsu is really only limited by the imagination of those who use it. I've learned a couple of medic jutsu but I know a lot more about healing without it, treating injuries and sickness, things like that. My Taijutsu is some better, although I still kinda think it sucks."

"You'll get better with time Sakura, you need to have patience." Kakashi told her.

Sakura sighed. She knew that, she really did, but it was hard to be patient when Sasuke seemed so good at everything. At least Naruto was still a moron, (she assumed).

"Well, Sasuke, you next," Kakashi had meanwhile taken out his book, much to the irritation of all others present.

"Worked on my Sharingan and Taijutsu. Learned a couple lightning jutsus and a fire one. Played a lot of Mahjong." A vein under his eye twitched a little at that.

"Really? I played a lot of Mahjong too! And poker, and dice, and pretty much anything else you can bet on." Naruto spoke exuberantly.

"Why?" Sakura asked when it seemed like no one else would.

"Eh? Well it turns out that I'm really good at gambling, and Baa-chan, well she sucks. So Baa-chan, Ero-sannin, and Shizune-nee-chan decided that I could pay off all of Baa-chan's debts for her. We stopped at every gambling hall on the way back." Naruto told them happily, with a bit of annoyance present in his eyes.

"Really?" Kakashi asked. "You're that good?" Kakashi was having visions of dancing money in his head.

"Yeah, but you can forget it. Anything I make gambling goes to paying Baa-chan's debts, they're huge! I get to keep a tenth of everything I win though."

"Well it was worth a shot." Kakashi sighed. "Why don't you tell us what else you did, besides gamble."

"Alright, well I learned some really awesome jutsus, the Rasengan, the Suko-ru, and this one called the Toojin, although I haven't gotten that one down all the way yet." Naruto began ticking points off on his finger.

"What do they do?" Sakura interrupted him.

"Ehh?" Naruto lost track of his train of though. "Oh! Well the Rasengan makes this tightly compacted ball of chakra that spins in many different directions at once, when you hit someone with it you can really shred them up, or if you don't do it quite right you can blast them away. I'm still working on being able to form it with one hand. Ero-sannin says it's amazing that I can do it with two hands, he thought it would take 6 months or more for me to get it.

"The Suko-ru is a wind jutsu. It creates this big gust of wind, although if you spin your chakra it makes a tornado. It's useful for knocking people down or kicking up a lot of dust but that's about all. Toojin is a wind jutsu too. It creates a short gust of wind with an edge to it like a sword so it can cut. It's hard to control though."

"I'm impressed. You learned more than I had thought you would, Naruto." Kakashi said.

"You want to hear what else I learned?" Naruto asked him.

"There's more?" Kakashi looked at him for a moment. "Well go ahead then."

"Well after we found Baa-chan and she learned that I knew next to nothing about first aid she made me learn all this medical stuff. She says it's just basic field first aid that should be taught in the academy but I still say it was really hard to learn." Naruto turned to Sakura. "I don't know how you remember all that stuff! Setting bones, stopping blood loss, treating poison and fevers, ergh it's too much!" Naruto threw his hands up in frustration.

"Well did you actually manage to learn it?" Kakashi asked him.

"Eh?" Naruto was brought out of his frustrated ponderings by Kakashi's question. "Oh, yeah, I guess, I mean Baa-chan beat it into me enough. Literally! She'd beat me up and then show me what to do to treat it!"

"Well that's certainly an interesting way to learn it," Kakashi said cheerfully. He might have to try that method…

"Yeah? I'd like to see you learn it that way." Naruto mumbled in response.

---

Two weeks after Naruto had returned, ten D-rank missions, and many, many training sessions with Kakashi, Team 7 found itself in the Hokage's office.

"Heya Baa-chan!" Naruto called merrily as he and his team walked through the large oak doors. Suddenly his head snapped back as a heavy desk clock hit him in the face.

"Why the hell do I put up with that twerp?" Tsunade sighed as she sat back down behind her desk, having stood to throw the clock.

"What did you do that for?" Naruto threw the clock back at her only to growl in frustration when she merely lifted her hand to catch it.

"NARUTO! Show some respect for the Hokage!" Sakura screamed punching him in the head.

"Ow! What the hell did you do that for Sakura-chan?" Kakashi and Sasuke merely sighed and shook their heads slightly, not realizing that they were mirroring the other's actions.

"If it isn't my eternal rival! Kakashi!" A voice boomed from the other end of the room. Looking up the members of Team 7 noticed the others in the room for the first time. A tall man in an unfortunate looking green jumpsuit stood slightly in front of three teens a little older than Team 7. Naruto suddenly recognized them.

"Hey! You're the guys who were there when I fought Gaara!" He called.

"Hello my most youthful comrade!" A smaller version of the tall jounin bounced up to Naruto. "You are Naruto right? Allow me to introduce myself again! I'm Rock Lee."

"Oh right… the eyebrow guy…" Naruto said in response.

"NARUTO!" Sakura screamed and hit him in the head again. "I'm sorry, Naruto's an idiot."

"That's okay, so's Lee." The girl with brown hair smiled at Sakura as they both ignored the indignant 'hey's' from Lee and Naruto. "I'm Tenten, Lee's teammate."

"I'm Sakura." She was cut off from saying anything else by a green blur landing to kneel in front of her.

"Sakura! What a beautiful name befitting for such a beautiful flower as yourself! Please, if you'd only let me I would give my life to serve you." Lee said giving what he thought was a handsome expression.

"Err, thanks but no thanks." Sakura pulled her hand out from the hold that Lee had it in as Tenten hit Lee in the back of the head with a fist.

"Could you all please pay attention?" Tsunade said from her desk. She sighed as the others turned to face her. "Thank you. Team 7 I assume you want a D-rank? Well how about you go find the Fire Lady's ca-" She was cut off by a loud chorus of 'No's' from Kakashi, Sasuke, and Sakura. "Well why not?"

"Lady Tsunade I think it would be for the best if Team 7 weren't given that mission again." Kakashi said calmly.

"Why not?" She repeated. She looked down at the (rather thick) file on the mission. "It says here that you've done this mission several times, especially lately."

"Yes well, that was before Naruto came back." Kakashi said.

"Tora hates Naruto." Sakura explained.

"I don't really see what that has to do with anything." Tsunade frowned at them.

"The last time Naruto was part of this mission the cat raked both sets of claws down his face, nearly losing him an eye." Kakashi said.

"Damn cat…" Naruto mumbled touching his face. Tsunade paled slightly.

"Really?" She asked; there was nothing on that in the file.

"Yes. It's amazing it didn't leave any scars…" Sakura trailed off thinking that she didn't remember Naruto scarring from anything.

"Well, I don't think Team 7 will be doing that mission again anytime soon." Tsunade said as she set the mission file down before picking up another. "There are however a great many other D-ranks…"

"Actually if you wouldn't mind I'd like my team to go on a C-rank." Kakashi told her. The rest of Team 7 looked at him in surprise; he hadn't mentioned anything about that earlier. In fact it was rather spur of the moment but Kakashi knew his team could handle it and they deserved something after working so hard.

"Do you think they're ready?" Tsunade said.

"My team has already been on a couple of C-ranks. And Naruto of course went on that S-rank with Jiraiya-sama." Tsunade frowned at his reply, rather than being reassured.

The details of that mission were a secret so no one but her, Jiraiya, Shizune, and Naruto himself knew how close he'd come to dying.

Naruto saw Tsunade hesitating and decided to speak up.

"C'mon Baa-chan nothing like what happened then is gonna happen now. It's just a C-rank." Naruto bounced over to her side. Tsunade turned to consider the blonde beside her.

"You never know though." Worry was etched into her face leaving the others in the room to wonder just how close the two were.

"Hey, hey! I could die just falling down the stairs and breaking my neck right? So at least I'd be helping people on this mission. It's not like I'm gonna die anyway. I still haven't taken that ugly old hat from you yet." Naruto smiled brightly at her and Tsunade found herself smiling brightly in response.

"Alright. I do have an appropriate C-rank. Actually I believe you wanted a C-rank for your team as well Gai?" Gai nodded at her. "Well then this is perfect. The client paid for two genin teams, so you guys can go on this one together!"

Kakashi groaned, quietly and under his breath, but his team still heard him and looked at him oddly.

"Yosh! Did you hear that? We get to go on a mission together Kakashi!" Gai had bounded over to where Kakashi stood with one of his little books.

"Eh? Did you say something?" Kakashi drawled in response.

"There's that hip attitude again!" Gai cried pointing a finger at his self-proclaimed rival. "But my team will do better on this mission than yours, or I'll do 500 push ups and 500 sit ups!"

"Yes! Show him the power of youth Gai-sensei!" Lee cried in exuberance.

The others in the room couldn't help but simply stare.

"Alright… back to the mission." Tsunade began shuffling the folders around on her desk looking for the right one. "Where on earth did Shizune put that folder?" She questioned quietly to herself.

Naruto sighed before moving over to one of the stacks next to Tsunade's desk. Looking at the tabs declaring what was in them briefly he began to tug one out of the middle of the stack.

"NARUTO! What are you-" Tsunade's reprimand was cut off as Naruto expertly pulled the correct folder out of the stack. "…doing." She finished lamely as Naruto handed her the folder. "How did you do that?"

"The mission folders are always stacked according to importance. D and C ranks are usually on the ground next to the desk with B, A, and S ranked mission on top of the desk. Only one folder was marked as requesting two genin teams in the C stack." Naruto explained, seeing the shocked expressions on everyone's face he blushed, self-conscience. "What, what's wrong?"

"How did you know all that? I don't even know that yet. And how did you pull out the folder without them all falling over?" Tsunade sounded slightly shocked.

"Oh well, before I could join the academy I used to hang out with the Old Man a lot here. He explained it all to me saying I'd need to know it when I kicked him out of office." Naruto smiled sadly and Tsunade mirrored the expression. "Anyways the Old Man used to be able to pull them out like that. I remember once when I was five I tried to do it too. The whole stack collapsed." Naruto laughed a little, remembering being buried under that mountain of papers. "The Old Man was so upset. Anyways, after that I started collecting newspapers, I'd stack them up and practice pulling one out. It took forever! The damn things kept collapsing!" Tsunade smiled at him, imagining a tiny hand, belonging to Naruto, sticking out of an avalanche of papers. "Eventually I got it right though. Heh, I remember the first time I showed the Old Man, he was so surprised."

"I bet." Tsunade said. "Well since Naruto kindly found the proper folder for us let's begin the briefing." The two teams shuffled to stand at attention in front of her. "The clients are three merchants. They're traveling from Narasu to Kando and they want shinobi to protect them, their families, and their merchant carts from any possible bandits along the way. You eight will travel to Narasu to meet them. It's about half a day from here so you should be able to get there today. You'll stay the night there and then set out tomorrow. Kando is about a week travel at civilian speed. You can rest a day in Kando and then return here. All in all it should take a little less than two weeks, alright?"

The two teams nodded at her.

"Alright, go get ready, pack and stuff, whatever, then meet back at the gates in two hours, okay?" Kakashi said, looking at Gai for conformation.

"That is fine with me!" Gai turned to his team and nodded; they quickly excused themselves and left.

"Alright, let's go." Kakashi told his team.

"Bye Baa-chan!" Suddenly Naruto found himself in a headlock.

"Noogie Style: Fist of Doom!" Tsunade cried as she attacked.

"OW! What the hell? You changed the name again!"

---

Two hours later, Team Gai and Team Seven met by the front gates of the village, Naruto still mumbling under his breath about Tsunade.

"Crazy old hag, 'the hell she naming them for?" And so on.

"Naruto, SHUT UP ABOUT THE NOOGIE ALREADY!" Sakura screamed at him, tired of hearing about it.

Team Gai was looking very confused.

"Hokage-sama often punishes Naruto for his many indiscretions by giving him noogies." Sasuke said in response to their puzzled expressions.

"What's so bad about noogies?" Tenten asked. "They can't possibly be that bad."

"They're embarrassing! Plus she uses her monstrous strength!" Naruto cried before being knocked to the ground by a fist to the back of the head.

"I come all the way out here to wish you good luck and you're calling me a monster?" Tsunade said looking angry. Shizune stood by her side shaking her head a little in exasperation, Tonton the pig held in her arms. Jiraiya also stood with them.

"Heh heh heh, serves you right brat." The previous day Jiraiya had been caught in his peeping due to an over-exuberant greeting from Naruto.

"Eh, whatever Ero-sannin, you're just mad cause you got caught peeping on the girls at the hot spring yesterday." Naruto told Jiraiya as he leapt up from the ground.

Jiraiya chuckled nervously as 6 pairs of eyes (all the women plus Gai and Lee (who was copying Gai)) glared at him.

"Well anyway, I hope you all do well on your mission and return safely. Remember you're representing Konoha out there so don't do anything stupid." Tsunade looked pointedly to Naruto.

"What're you looking at me for!" Naruto cried as the others all also turned to look at him

"Just be safe, alright." Tsunade sighed.

"Sure thing Baa-chan!" Tsunade suddenly developed a twitch under her right eye.

"We should get going." Kakashi interjected quickly before Tsunade could attack Naruto again.

"Right, get going all of you." Tsunade said but before they could turn to leave she enveloped Naruto in a gigantic hug. "Don't you get hurt, you twerp." She murmured as she squeezed him.

"F-fine, c-can't b-b-breathe." Naruto choked out as she hugged him a little too tight. She released him quickly but didn't apologize, just smiled lightly.

"Remember to keep practicing the Rasengan and the Toojin while you're gone, and keep doing those chakra control exercises!" Jiraiya told him sternly.

"Yeah, yeah, I know." Naruto replied.

"Take care Naruto-kun, when you get back I'll treat you to a bowl of ramen." Shizune smiled at him as Tonton squealed in her arms.

"Awesome! I'll tell you all about the mission then Shizune-nee-chan!" Naruto told her.

Team Gai looked over at the rest of Team 7 as all this was going on; confused at the close relationships Naruto was showing to have with several high ranking ninja.

Sakura was smiling at the obvious displays of affection.

Sasuke was tapping his foot and rolling his eyes, clearly irritated with the whole time consuming thing.

Kakashi was grinning broadly, prepared to tease Naruto about it as soon as they exited the gates.

None of them looked very surprised.

Eventually Naruto was able to get away from the strangely affectionate Tsunade after she gave him another massive hug and both teams were able to leave through the gates.

---

Twenty minutes from Konoha the teasing began.

"I didn't know you were that close to Tsunade-sama, Naruto-kun." Kakashi said with a smirk on his face.

"Huh?" Naruto replied.

"Yeah, she seemed awfully affectionate back there Naruto." Sakura said catching on to Kakashi's teasing.

"Huh?" Naruto said again with a puzzled look plastered on his face.

"Don't bother teasing him. The Dobe's too stupid to understand." Sasuke said.

"HEY! I understood that, teme!" Naruto shook a fist in Sasuke's direction as Sasuke smirked.

"I'm surprised." Sasuke replied. Naruto growled lightly.

"Umm, still you do seem rather close with Tsunade-sama." Tenten cut in, trying to diffuse a fight, she was so used to having to do it with Lee and Neji.

"Well I guess." Naruto shrugged.

"It's rare to be so close to a Hokage though." Tenten said, trying to be polite, but still curious.

"Really?" Naruto asked.

"Naruto had a very close relationship to the Sandaime as well, he doesn't see it as being that odd." Kakashi told her kindly.

"Oh, that's right, I remember when you came to tell him when the Sandaime di-" The Weapons Master broke off as Naruto suddenly bounded past her to take the lead, a dark look on his face and killing intent rising around him slightly.

"I would suggest you don't mention that. Naruto didn't take it too well." Kakashi replied blandly as he looked ahead at his student.

Didn't take it well was an understatement, Tenten recalled. Naruto had screamed at Kakashi when he'd heard, calling him a liar and a few other things. Then he'd rushed off faster than someone suffering from major chakra lost should have been able to, panic and fury surrounding him like a cloak. As he'd gotten further from them she thought she saw a haze of red chakra cover him but that might have been a trick of the light.

"He was so sad for days when that happened." Sakura murmured from her position right behind Tenten. Sasuke nodded agreement. It had been very odd to see the normally happy Naruto so down.

"We should stop talking about it. He might hear." Kakashi said and that ended the conversation. "We should arrive in Narasu in about three or four hours if we keep this speed."

"Three or four hours! I bet we could get there sooner if we just-" Gai was cut off from suggesting they all run fast by a slap to the head from Tenten.

"No way! There's no way I'd be able to keep up if we went any faster!" Sakura and Sasuke nodded.

---

The town of Narasu was a small one right next to a large forest. As Hi no Kuni was covered in forest it was to be expected. After meeting briefly with their clients, they arranged to stay in a rather iffy hotel. Sakura and Tenten in one room, Kakashi and Gai in another and Neji, Lee, Naruto, and Sasuke squashed into a third.

"This bites." said Naruto. "I should have just paid for my own room." He was laying out blankets on the floor, as no way in hell was he sharing a bed with Sasuke and he'd lost at rock, paper, scissors so he was stuck on the floor.

"This is a resort town, hotels here are expensive, especially this time of year." Sasuke told him. "No way you would afford your own room."

"Can too. I've made a lot of money gambling the past month." Naruto told him.

"NARUTO! GAMBLING IS VERY UNYOUTHFUL!" Lee cried before Neji threw a pillow at him.

"Quiet, you'll disturb the other guests." Neji told Lee. "Gambling is illegal for anyone under the age of 16."

"Not if I have permission from the Hokage. Besides, most places don't care how old you are as long as you have money." Naruto told him as he took the pillow from Lee, as it just so happened to have been his.

"Why would the Hokage give you special permission to gamble?" Neji inquired.

"Turns out Baa-chan really sucks at gambling and I'm really good, so she said that if I use most of what I make to pay off her debts I could keep ten percent." Naruto sat down on his pile of blankets before taking out a strip of paper from his equipment pouch. Sighing, he began the paper knife exercise before throwing the paper in the air and trying to guide it around the room.

"Still, you can't win all the time, what if you lose all your money?" Neji frowned at him.

"Well, I haven't lost yet." Naruto replied with a cocky grin.

---

The next day dawned bright and clear, not too hot or too windy, in other words perfect for traveling.

The three merchants they were accompanying were all joyful looking men. They had been friends for a long time and had arranged to take this trip together so they would only have to pay for two teams rather than each paying for one of their own, something that irritated Kakashi slightly.

Conversation was light and the pace was sedate, allowing Naruto to work on his Rasengan.

When he began to channel chakra for the first one Team Gai had felt the sharp spike in chakra and swiftly dropped into combat stances. Team Seven and the merchant families had looked at them oddly.

"What are you doing?" Sakura asked.

"Didn't you feel that chakra spike?" Tenten asked back.

"It's just Naruto." Sakura replied pointing back to Naruto who had fallen behind slightly so as to not risk hurting anyone should his Rasengan become unstable. Naruto was standing with a confused look on his face and a completed Rasengan in his hand.

Suddenly his facial expression changed to shock and he manage to bite out "Oh shi-" before the Rasengan in his hand exploded sending him back several feet.

"Damn it all! You distracted me!" Naruto shouted accusingly at Team Gai as he got up and dusted himself off. The merchants and their families were standing around in awe at the boy who had just exploded himself.

"What were you doing?" Neji asked calmly.

"I was practicing my Rasengan if you must know. If I lose too much focus it can become unstable and explode!" Naruto then proceeded to grumble under his breath as he started to form a second one.

"The Rasengan! But isn't that the Yondaime's…" Gai trailed off looking to Kakashi who had started walking again, little orange book in his hand.

"Yes, Jiraiya-sama taught it to him. He's currently practicing using it with one hand." Kakashi said has he flipped a page. The others had started moving again as well and Naruto returned to the back of the group.

"That's impressive! Your student must be bursting with the power of youth to have mastered such a difficult jutsu." Gai cheered from beside Kakashi.

"Huh? Did you say something Gai?" Kakashi replied with a blank face, although on the inside he was smirking proudly.

Tenten and Sakura both sighed at the antics of their respective sensei. They were now walking among the families of the merchants to be able to guard them better in case of attack.

"They're all very strange, aren't they?" Natsumi, a daughter of the cloth merchant who was a couple years older than Tenten, asked.

"Who? Our sensei? Yeah, they're very odd, but you get used to it." Sakura told her.

"It must be hard, being surrounded by guys all the time." Natsumi spoke lightly.

"Yeah, but that's okay. I can still hang out with girls when I don't have a mission or team training time and the guys aren't so bad, even if they are pretty irritating." Tenten said smilingly.

"Yeah, Naruto may be pretty dense, and Sasuke doesn't talk a lot and Kakashi-sensei's a bit of a pervert but" Sakura got cut off by Natsumi's sharp intake of breath.

"A pervert! And they let him teach children?" Natsumi gasped outraged. "And girls!"

"Hey! Kakashi-sensei might be a little perverted but he's a great ninja and he would never do anything to us!" Sakura told her, greatly offended and not bothering to hide it. "You're not a shinobi so you wouldn't understand, but your team is like your family. Kakashi-sensei's family and you're not allowed to insult him." She then stormed off, telling Naruto to quit practicing and take her place.

"Jeez, what flew up her butt…" Naruto mumbled as he took a place next to the bunned girl.

"Our assignment insulted her." Tenten said coldly, tilting her head at the now quite affronted Natsumi.

"Well that's stupid. You shouldn't go around insulting the people protecting you." Naruto said matter-of-factly.

"I was just worried! She said you sensei was a pervert!" Natsumi said.

"Which one?" Naruto asked. "I have two sensei's and they're both perverts, although Kakashi-sensei isn't nearly as bad as Ero-sannin."

Natsumi just stared at him before moving to stand by her mother.

"Well, that went well." Naruto said. Tenten giggled at his side.

---

Around noon they all took a break for lunch. The families dug out nicely wrapped lunch boxes as the shinobi took out unappetizing trail rations.

Team 7 was a little surprised when Naruto didn't complain about his rations and just ate them. What they didn't know was that Jiraiya used to hit him whenever he complained about them, thus he was quickly broken from the habit.

"Well, we're making good time; we should have no problem getting to Kando on schedule." Kakashi said breaking the silence. He was a bit unnerved when the merchants and their families all glared at him a little. "As long as nothing bad occurs." He then turned to his team. "Alright, while the clients finish their lunches and have a little break we'll train." Team 7 just barely stopped the groans.

Kakashi made sure to take them far enough away not to endanger anyone else.

"Naruto, you can work on whatever the hell Jiraiya has been teaching you." While Kakashi had been trying to teach Naruto a better Taijutsu form he was more concerned with Naruto learning everything Jiraiya could teach him before Jiraiya had to leave again.

"Sasuke, I want you to give me 150 sit ups, 150 push ups, and then climb that tree twenty times, weights on the entire time, then work with your Sharingan." Sasuke felt his eye twitch.

"Sakura, you'll be working with me. I want to see how far your Taijutsu has gotten." He quickly dropped into a guarded stance as Sakura took up another stance twenty feet across from him.

Sakura stood nervously in her form; she hadn't improved that much since their last fight. She'd been neglecting her Taijutsu in favor of Genjutsu and medic-jutsu. She knew that she shouldn't be, but Genjutsu and medic-jutsu came so easily to her, unlike Taijutsu which she struggled with. Taking a deep breath she launched herself at her sensei.

Three feet from Kakashi, Sakura ducked to the left and tried to deliver a kick to the base of his spine. Kakashi quickly jumped away and then came at her with a left uppercut. Sidestepping swiftly to the left, she barely avoided it before trying to bury her knee into his side.

He caught her knee in his left hand and swung his right fist around to hit her in the jaw. Jumping up and tilting her head she avoided the blow before twisting her body around to strike at his head with her free leg and pull her knee out of his grasp. Kakashi jumped backwards to avoid the blow as Sakura landed in a crouch.

"Good, your footwork has gotten better." Kakashi smiled at her. Sakura felt her eyebrow give a violent twitch. The Taijutsu style she was learning was all about the footwork! She hardly ever used her hands to fight anymore. Kakashi said that as the team's medic she had to take care of her hands.

She was brought out of her reverie when Kakashi made a dash at her, shifting at the last moment she brought her body out of the way but not her left leg. Kakashi tripped over it and they were both brought down in a tangle of limbs as Sakura shouted in surprise.

"Oof! Ow!" Sakura cried as Kakashi landed heavily on top of her. Kakashi quickly sprang up with all the speed and grace of a shinobi but Sakura stayed on the ground, winded.

Everyone had come running when they heard Sakura's shout and seen the two falling to the ground.

Kakashi kneeled down next to Sakura.

"Are you alright? I didn't hurt you did I?" Kakashi asked concerned that she hadn't stood yet.

"I'm fine. You just knocked the wind out of me Sensei." Sakura gasped out. She then struggled to stand, Naruto and Sasuke pulling at her elbows to help. She winced suddenly as she put weight on her left foot.

Seeing the wince Naruto looked down at her foot. The ankle was swelling and turning purple already, he could tell that even with her sandals on.

"I think you sprained your ankle." Naruto told her. Hearing that, everyone, Team 7, Team Gai, and the merchant families looked down at her ankle.

"Just great!" Sakura cried as Naruto and Sasuke gently sat her back down again. "Naruto go get my stuff. My first aid equipment is in my bag." She then carefully tugged her sandal off her left foot.

"This is your fault." One of the wives of the merchants accused Kakashi. "If you had been more gentle-" She was cut off by Sasuke's laugh.

"There is no place for gentleness when training." Sasuke told them.

"He's right. We're shinobi, not children, if we don't want to die than we need to train hard." Neji said coldly.

"Kakashi-sensei didn't do anything wrong, it was an accident. I've had worse during training, so has Naruto and Sasuke, in fact they usually get a lot more beat up than me." Sakura didn't continue as Naruto came back with her things. She then began to examine her ankle as best she could.

Running through some hand seals she placed glowing green hands over her ankle. Instantly the swelling went down a great deal. After more hand seals she placed her hands yet again over her ankle and sighed as the pain receded. Yet a third set of hand seals caused the bruising to fade.

Sakura was intently aware of everyone watching her but didn't pay any mind as she dug out a cream from her bag and a roll of bandages.

"Naruto do you think you can wrap my ankle for me? It's hard to do it properly on yourself. Tsunade-sama taught you right?" Sakura asked as the applied the cream to her ankle.

"Sure thing. If there is one thing I can do it's apply bandages." He gave her a thumbs up and a wide smile, a smile she returned as she handed over the bandages. Settling Sakura's foot on his leg as he sat in front of her, he swiftly and expertly wrapped the bandage around the arch of her foot and halfway up her shin. Tucking the end in, he lightly set Sakura's foot back onto the ground "All done!"

"Wow, you're really good at that." Sakura said looking at the bandages around her ankle.

"I've had a lot of practice." Naruto waved away the complement.

"You never bother to treat your wounds." Sakura frowned. "You don't ever need to."

"Oh, not on myself. On Ero-sannin." Naruto told her. "He's always getting beat up by either Baa-chan or the women he spies on or by various men related to the women he spies on. Sometimes I think the real reason Baa-chan made me learn first aid is so she doesn't have to treat Ero-sannin after she hurts him," The blonde ended with a laugh.

"Well Sakura, how does the ankle feel, can you continue?" Kakashi asked her. She nodded and with the help of Naruto and Sasuke again she stood. Once upright she cautiously put some weight on her ankle and then more when it didn't buckle. She then took several steps, not limping in the slightest.

"Well it seems those medic-jutsus did their job. It doesn't hurt at all and I can only feel a tiny bit of weakness in them. As long as I don't need to run I think I'll be fine." Sakura told the crowd looking at her.

"Good, why don't you sit and rest while everyone else finishes up their lunches." Kakashi told her.

"She could ride in one of the carts." A merchant named Kawamura said.

"No, if there's an attack it would take her too long to get out of the cart and to where she could defend everyone. Her ankle is fine, she'll walk." Kakashi told him.

"Isn't that being a bit harsh?" Kawamura's wife asked.

"Sakura said she could handle it. I have faith in Sakura." Kakashi said blandly. "Now we've lost enough time as it is, I suggest you all finish your lunches as fast as you can."

With that everyone moved to get ready to leave again.

---

**Omake: Tsunade's Grief**

Two days into her new job as Hokage and Tsunade was just about ready to pull her beautiful blonde hair out by the roots. The paper work was horrible! There were forms for everything! Honestly, did she really need to fill out a form every time an ANBU member broke their sword? Shouldn't _they_ have to fill it out at least?

And what the hell were the ANBU doing with their swords that they broke so often anyway?

Tired and cranky Tsunade was not in the mood for visitors as she jerkily signed her name to yet another sword requisitioning form, not that her blonde visitor knew or cared.

"Hey Baa-chan, what's up?" He said has he bounced into a chair. Tsunade had soon found out that Naruto was allowed into the Hokage's office at anytime so long as no one else was in there. It was something the Sandaime had set up and the Chunin guards had allowed him to continue with her. Tsunade hadn't the heart to change the orders when she first learned of them but now she was seriously considering it.

"Not now Naruto. I have a lot of paper work to do." She frowned at the stacks waiting to be started. "A LOT."

"Why don't you just do what the Old Man did and use Kagebushins?" He asked her.

"Because, I… wait, what?" Tsunade looked up from her form to stare at him. "What did you just say?"

"Er, why don't you use Kage Bunshins to help do the work?" He said timidly, wondering if he'd done something wrong in suggesting it. Suddenly he found himself a foot off the ground in Tsunade's arms.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you! Why didn't I think of that!" She gave him a smacking kiss on the cheek before releasing him to form the proper seal. With a burst of smoke three more Tsunades filled the room. "You three, do this paper work." She told them before turning back to Naruto. "Let's you and me go get some sake!" She said as she grabbed his arm and dragged him out the window.

"But I can't drinnnkkkk!" wafted up to the window as the three Tsunades started work.

---

**Author's Note Reprise: **I'll admit this chapter seems a little blah for me, but you get more of a feel for how the characters interact with each other (I'll be perfectly honest, this is mostly a filler chapter). It is however over 6,000 words, and that's fun, right? This chapter did get a bit delayed in the Beta-ing department, Snicky was having problems with her internet (doesn't that bite?), still she did an amazing job with it, as usual, and since I still got it before I left town I'm happy.

Chapter 10 should be up in a week and a half with chapter 11 following a few days after it, barring any internet failures. Chapter 10 should be fun since it's got a real fight scene and the conclusion of the mission. Chapter 11 is a small timeskip (SMALL!).

Anyways **MERRY WHATEVER THE HELL YOU CELEBRATE!**

**Also: I do not in any way condone underage gambling. You must be 18 to gamble in America, I don't know about other countries. I personally gamble all the time, mostly against my dad who happens to make really bad bets (I've never lost against him, heh heh heh).**

**Jutsu Notes:**

Fuuton: Toojin (Wind Style: Cutting Edge) - A B-rank wind jutsu that creates a thin straight edge shot of wind that can cut just about anything. This jutsu is hard to control as the user must have good chakra control and concentration to direct where the edge of the wind will be. Incidentally the Toojin gets it's name from a kanji in my kanji dictionary that refers to the side of a knife that cuts.

**PREVIEW:**

"What is this? A bandit convention?" Naruto yelled as he punched another one in the face.

"You shouldn't talk in the midst of battle." Neji told him before delivering an open palm strike to the chest of another bandit.

"You're talking." Naruto murmured as he started the hand signs for a jutsu. "Fuuton: Suko-ru!"

**REVIEW OR I'LL EAT YOU! RAWGH! Break ****300**** Reviews and get TWO Omakes!**


	10. Chapter 10

**An Alternative Path **

**Author's note: **Chapter Ten! Yes, double digits! Do you remember how turning ten was so cool 'cause it was double digits? Maybe that was just me. This chapter sucks xD or maybe that's just me too. The next few chapters should be better though. This one was tough cause of the emotions. At least the omakes are good, if a bit long. The next omakes should be shorter xD

**IMPORTANT: **This story is AU. That means ALTERNATE UNIVERSE. That means I can do whatever the hell I want and you have to suck it up and deal.

**Pairings: **Jeez, some of you people are serious about your pairings. I've even gotten some P.M.s about it. I wish to reiterate, FRIENDSHIP is the strongest influence in my manga. The romance will typically be the 'squint hard to find it' kind.

**BTW: **I don't own Naruto!

**C-Rank Mission Finale**

It was two days from Kando and everyone was getting grouchy from the thick rains that had started the day before, and hadn't stopped since. It was actually a surprise when the water first fell. It usually only rained a few times a year in Fire Country. Because of this, paths that could have been laid in rock were in dirt, so the trails were turned to mud, leaving everyone soaked and muddy, despite rain slickers, and in a foul mood.

For the third time that day, one of the wheels of the merchant carts got stuck in the mud, leaving Kakashi, Gai, Lee, Naruto, and two of his clones to dig it out.

After lifting the cart up out of the mud, which gave a sick _slurk_ sound as it came loose, Kakashi observed their wet traveling party.

"Alright, why don't we just go ahead and take a break. Eat lunch and try not to get any muddier." Kakashi sighed before quickly leaping into the trees of a nearby grove, wanting as much shelter as possible from the annoying shower.

"This sucks." Naruto grumbled for the ninth time that day.

"We know it sucks, baka, we have to put up with it too." Sakura grumbled back at him, lacking even the motivation to yell.

Everyone had by this time moved to the trees for their meager protection; the carts lined up carefully by the side of the road. The clients were all huddled up together, attempting to eat swiftly while staying standing.

"Oh, _ick,_" Commented Tenten out of the blue. "I don't even want to know what just found its way into my sandal." She made a face down at her foot.

"I gave up trying to keep things out of my sandals hours ago," Sakura told her dully.

The shinobi began to eat their rations quickly, sitting on semi-dry branches up in the trees.

"It must be Kami-sama." Naruto called suddenly as a cold wind blew through the trees, dousing him in a fine spray of water, "Kami-sama must hate me."

"Probably," Sasuke told him. Naruto shot him a half-hearted glare, too miserable to continue the fight.

"Well it's not like he only hates you. He must hate us all." Sakura mumbled loud enough to be heard by everyone.

"Yeah but he hates me most of all!" Naruto argued back, not quite sure why he was bothering to, but he so bored that anything was interesting at that moment.

"That's obvious." Sasuke replied to the air, but Naruto heard and sent another glare at the dark eyed boy.

"You can just shut up," Naruto sneered at him.

"I could, but then who would put you in your place?" Sasuke sneered back, much more successfully too.

"You wanna fight?" Naruto stood on his branch in the tree and was joined a second later by Sasuke who was on a parallel branch.

"I swear to WHOEVER, if you two start fighting AGAIN I'm gonna kick BOTH your asses!" Sakura snarled ferociously at the two boys and they then promptly sat back down. Sakura sighed as she popped another piece of her rations into her mouth. She felt a little bad about threatening Sasuke-kun but she was just so miserable right now that she couldn't help it. Those two always gave her headaches when they fought, plus if they got hurt they'd expect her to heal them.

Below them the clients were now glancing nervously at Sakura, who they had thought was very sweet, but who they now saw was actually pretty scary.

"Heh, thanks for stopping them Sakura-chan," Tenten laughed nervously, trying to break the suddenly thick atmosphere. Across from them Kakashi was ignoring a loud Gai as Neji was doing the same to Lee.

"Yeah, I just wish I could get those four idiots to shut up." Sakura glared at said idiots. Kakashi and Neji shivered a little at the sudden rise in killing intent but Gai and Lee both seemed not to notice it.

Five minutes later everyone looked up simultaneously as the rain suddenly ceased.

"IT'S A MIRACLE!" Naruto whooped from his tree.

"YES! THE YOUTHFUL SUN HAS SHOWN ITSELF TO US AGAIN!" Gai called loudly. "Like witnessing a stream in the middle of the desert; it fills me with hope again!"

"Gai-sensei, that was AMAZING!" Lee said looking up in admiration to his idol.

"THANK YOU, LEE!" Gai screamed.

"GAI-SENSEI!"

"LEE!"

The two jumped from their trees to run to each other.

"Ah man! If you two 'guy-hug' again I'm gonna lose it!" Naruto covered his eyes with his hands, the rest of the ninja similarly blocking their vision. The clients however watched as one might a train wreck—in horrid fascination.

After the two had separated, and Naruto had finished making gagging noises from behind his hand, they set off again down the muddy road.

An hour later Sakura (and Neji) were desperately wishing for the rain to come back. The sun had returned with a vengeance and the heat had swiftly climbed, leaving the air incredibly muggy and Sakura's (and Neji's) hair to frizz.

"That's it; this mission is officially going in my book of missions that sucked! Right in between The Cat from Hell and the Wave Mission." Sakura mumbled looking at her usually silky pink locks in despair.

---

Two and a half hours from the village Jyukin, a one day's travel from Kando and where the traveling party was going to spend the night, Sakura noticed Naruto was doing something weird.

He'd moved back some time ago to once again practice his Rasengan. He would form one in his right hand and hold it there for a couple of minutes before letting it dissipate, after a few minutes rest he would start the process over again. Now though he'd been holding one in his hand for the past ten minutes.

Sakura supposed he could have just been practicing something new about the Rasengan, but the way his eyes kept darting to the trees on the left side of the road made her think something was up.

Turning to face where Kakashi and Sasuke were she noticed that Kakashi had surreptitiously lifted one of his hands to his hite-ate and Sasuke's shoulders were stiff. She swung her head to look over at Team Gai, aside from Gai who was slowly clenching his fists none of them were acting odd.

Sakura casually swung one of her hands as she walked to land on her kunai pouch and reached one finger in to hook around the ring of a knife. She wasn't quite sure what was going on but she would be prepared for anything.

A loud cry pierced the air behind them, causing everyone to whirl around to face it, twenty feet behind them Naruto stood under the branches of a particularly large tree, a tree that someone was jumping out of. Right as the attacker attempted to slash at Naruto's throat with a large knife Naruto side stepped, brought his arm up and rammed his Rasengan into the left shoulder of his attacker.

The Rasengan blasted the man back with a loud crack of what the medic-to-be and kunoichi recognized as breaking bone and a sharp screech of pain. This bandit had friends though, a lot of friends. Before he even hit the ground the rest of his gang flew out of the trees and attacked.

Sakura threw her kunai into the knee of one, running to where Naruto was near the rear as Sasuke and Kakashi both leapt up to avoid three others, Sharingan exposed. She couldn't see Team Gai behind her but she assumed from the many loud _thunks_ and _thwaks_, and the cries of various bandits that they were doing okay.

Reaching Naruto, she just about got pulled off her feet when a particularly ugly bandit grabbed her hair and held tight. Sakura bit off a scream and winced as she felt several strands rip out.

"Sakura-chan!" Naruto cried when he saw her head being forced back. He tried to move to help his teammate but was pushed away and closer to the thick of the fighting by several arrows suddenly striking the ground before him.

Sakura grit her teeth, yanked her hair out the ugly man's grasp, and spun on one foot, delivering the other straight to his chest. A loud _oomph_ sound came out of the bandit's lungs as the air was knocked from him. Stepping back, Sakura bent her fingers swiftly into the seals, casting a Genjutsu over the unsuspecting man and forced him to sleep.

She then turned back to see how the rest were doing. Roughly a dozen bodies, all bandits, lay strewn across the ground, unconscious. And yet another dozen were still fighting over their fallen comrades against her teammates and Team Gai.

"What is this? A bandit convention?" Naruto yelled as he punched another one in the face. Sakura would have winced if she had not been used to her blonde friend's brash style of Taijutsu. That man's face would never be the same again…

"You shouldn't talk in the midst of battle." Neji told him before delivering an open palm strike to the chest of another thug.

"You're talking." Naruto murmured as he started the hand signs for a jutsu. "Fuuton: Suko-ru!"

The Suko-ru had enough chakra to blast two bandits back, flinging them heavily into two trees that shook from the impact. The men hit the trees with a shudder and fell to the dirt, knocked-out from hitting their heads against the solid trunk.

Neji was sealing off chakra points wherever he could and dealing damage to kidneys, livers, and lungs, causing bandit after bandit to fall at his feet hacking up blood.

Sasuke was electrocuting any bandit he could touch with a particularly nasty lightning jutsu Kakashi had taught him.

Kakashi and Gai had calmly stepped back from the fray, intent on gauging their students' success in dealing with the onslaught. Occasionally a bandit would turn their way only to be swiftly dispatched by one of the two.

Tenten was throwing kunai after kunai, hitting legs, hands, arms, and causing most of the bandits to drop their own weapons. Using these resources, the brunette would snatch them from the fallen men and use them against others, never pass up a good source, right?

Lee was simply beating them into submission with superior speed and strength. Can't beat the classics…

Naruto had hit two more with Rasengans and was now engaging another in Taijutsu, although his style was still crude, his speed was still better than the thugs that had no training.

Sakura had moved back towards the others and was also using Taijutsu—plus a fun little Genjutsu that made her appear three inches further to the left than she was—to take care of her opponents, who couldn't figure out how they kept missing her…

Sakura was glad that they were just common bandits and not ninja. A shinobi—even a completely inept one—would be able to recognize that something was off with their perception and then realize the Genjutsu, but not these bandits. Although the number of them was quite irritating, they weren't much of a threat.

Sakura had just jumped and kicked a bandit in the face (and was happy to see his face was just as deformed as Naruto's victims) when something hit her in the back of her head. The blow wasn't hard enough to knock her out, but it unbalanced her enough for the attacker to get his arm around her shoulders and pull a sword up to her throat. She felt her eyes widened. 'STUPID!' she heard her inner self cry. 'YOU GOT CAUGHT!'

"Stop now, or the girlie dies," The man holding her snarled. He hadn't seemed to realize that the others had already stopped, having run out of bandits to fight.

Now they stood unmoving, Kakashi, Sasuke, and Naruto with murderous expressions on their faces.

"Your friends are all beaten. You're all alone now. I wouldn't do something stupid if I were you. You kill Sakura and you'll have nothing to stop us from killing you," Kakashi spoke calmly yet there was no mistaking the threat in his voice.

A reverse-grip kunai was clutched tightly in Sasuke's hand, poised to attack at the man's first opening.

Naruto had no weapon but Sakura could have sworn his canines had grown longer and his nails looked sharper. He raised his head slightly and Sakura nearly gasped, despite the death grip the bandit had on her, which was cutting off her air. His eyes were red!

"Just let her go and you won't have to die." Kakashi was saying calmly but his eyes were no longer on the bandit. They had slid sideways to watch Naruto.

That's when Sakura felt it; the sudden wave of killing intent that came washing over her in thick waves. The bandit behind her shivered and flinched and Sakura took her chance, biting down fiercely on his arm and slamming her foot into his, all her body's force thrown into the kick. She winced slightly from the pressure put onto her sprained ankle, but pushed it aside for the moment. The bandit dropped his grip on her instantly and Sakura fell face first onto the ground, her ankle giving out on her.

Seeing their opportunity, both Sasuke and Naruto rushed the bandit while Kakashi grabbed Sakura and carried her closer to the other Konoha shinobi.

As the bandit (through what Sakura believed was sheer luck) managed to swing his sword around to block Sasuke's kunai in time so he could keep his head on his shoulders; Naruto slipped in under his other arm and hit him straight in the heart with a fully formed Rasengan. Rather than sending him flying back, like all previous Rasengans had done, the swirling ball thrust straight through his chest, causing the man to choke and cough up blood with a rather amusing shell-shocked expression on his broken and ugly face.

Sasuke stared at the body a little surprised. None of Team 7, besides Kakashi, had yet to kill anyone on any of their missions.

Naruto, however, had turned away before the body could even hit the ground and was running towards where Kakashi had carried Sakura with a concerned look welling in his once again ocean-blue eyes.

"Sakura-chan, are you alright?" Naruto asked her once he reached them. Team Gai and the various merchants and family members had gathered around Sakura as well but were now looking at the blonde a bit oddly.

"Yeah," Sakura breathed out, still recovering air from the hold the man had on her and then the fights, and then barely breathing watching Sasuke and Naruto fought. Her mind started to reel back into motion when she glanced once again at the body. She took a shaky breath and tore her eyes from her former captive and back to her blonde teammate. "Did," she cleared her throat to rid the slight crack in her voice, "Did you kill him?"

Naruto looked back at the body and then shrugged nonchalantly. "I guess so," he said as Sasuke walked back to join them, his face schooled into a blank expression, eyes dark and haunted, seeing things that were not there.

"Oh." Sakura said mildly, trying to get her act together. "Um, is anyone else hurt? I could treat it," Sakura didn't quite know what to say or even what to think about Naruto killing someone (Naruto killing someone for her, her inner voice said) so instead she changed the subject.

Tenten sensed that Sakura wanted to distract herself from the whole mess and held out her left arm which had a very shallow cut on it. "One of them got me in the arm." She said lightly, gaining the other girl's attention.

"Okay, let me just go get my bag and I'll heal that for you." Sakura retrieved her bag from where she'd dropped it when the fight had begun before treating Tenten's wound.

"Alright. Sasuke, Naruto I want you two to secure the unconscious bandits while I deal with the body." Kakashi told them. The two nodded before gathering up some rope and setting to work.

"Neji, you and Lee check with the clients, make sure no one is hurt and nothing is missing." Gai told his students before following Kakashi to dispose of the body.

---

They ended up camping in the woods again. They had been delayed by the fight, two sprained ankles and a broken nose that the clients had to have treated by Sakura, all injuries sustained by them trying to run, and repacking an overturned cart. They'd only traveled 5 miles from the site of the attack before dusk was on them.

Lee and Naruto had set off to find sufficient kindling that might have been spared from the heavy rains as everyone else began setting up tents or preparing dinner.

"It's just not natural," Sakura overheard the wife of a merchant named Toriyami say in a hushed whisper. She couldn't help but eavesdrop a little after that.

"How could that child just kill someone like that and not even look like it bothered them?" Sakura then realized they were talking about Naruto.

"What are they teaching these children? It's like they're making them into monsters." That was beyond enough to Sakura who suddenly snapped at the blatant insult to her teammate.

"Don't you DARE call Naruto a monster!" Her voice must have been louder than she wanted it to be because all work around the camp ceased and everyone looked their way. "You don't know him at all! Naruto is a great shinobi and you're just some civilian!" She was broken from her tirade when she felt a hand on her shoulder, only to find that it belonged to Kakashi.

"Sakura's right." The girl couldn't help but glow at the man for reprimanding their employers, "Naruto is a great shinobi and one day he's going to be the Hokage, it would be best if you didn't insult him where he could hear you." Kakashi nodded his head to the left, where both Lee and Naruto stood, arms full of thin pieces of wood.

"That kid? He'll never be Hokage." The eldest son of Toriyami scoffed, even civilians knew what being Hokage meant.

"Naruto! How long have you been there?" Sakura asked at the same time as the civilian did.

"Long enough," He shrugged before dumping his wood near the fire.

"I'm sorry," Sakura said sadly. Naruto looked up at her with wide eyes.

"Why? You didn't do anything." Naruto told her, confused by his friend's actions.

"But, what she called you..." Sakura was embarrassed to feel the tears come to her eyes. It had been a long day and she had proven to be useless once again. Now she had to get saved again, and now her teammate, her _friend_, was being called a monster, it was just too much!

"What? No! That's not.. I mean.." He waved his arms around anxiously, not able to handle a crying girl. "It's not like I've never heard it before." He finally sputtered out before his brain could process it.

"What? Why?" Sakura asked him. Sure, Naruto was annoying, and stupid, and a pain, but he'd never done anything to deserving being called a monster.

Naruto shuffled his feet awkwardly. "I don't know." He finally muttered out unconvincingly.

"It doesn't matter," Toriyami snapped. "Just keep that murderer away from my family."

"Hey!" Sasuke snarled at him. "_You_ hired shinobi to protect you. That's what we were doing."

"Sasuke-kun is right. Surely you had to have known that something like this might happen?" Gai tried to cut in diplomatically, hoping to still the angry crowds.

"Yes, but that kid…he acted like he didn't even care that he had killed someone!" Toriyami argued back, glancing nervously at the boy, like he would attack at any moment.

"If I were to grieve about every time I had to kill some one I could not remain a shinobi. We have to remember that while none of us have the right to take away another's right to live, nor do we have to stand helplessly by as our own lives and our loved ones lives are threatened. Be sorry when you take a life but do not grieve, you'll never be happy that way." Everyone turned to stare at Naruto who only shifted the weight of the firewood and blinked in memory. "The Old Man, the Third Hokage, told me that the day after I killed someone for the first time." Naruto turned at that and walked away to set up his tent.

"Kakashi-sensei, I thought this was the first time Naruto killed someone." Sakura said to Kakashi softly, trying not to offend Naruto.

"No. Remember at that time against that Suna-nin, he said as much." Neji spoke solemnly.

"That's right. 'People like us can't live as long as we have without killing someone' or something like that is what he said," Tenten murmured.

"Kakashi-sensei?" Sakura questioned to her mentor.

"I think he was six the first time he was forced to kill someone." Kakashi told her. The people around him reeled back in shock, except for Gai, Sasuke idly noticed. "I remember how furious the Sandaime was that the ANBU had failed to guard him." He watched with his one eye Naruto's clumsy movements with the frustrating tent.

Kakashi just turned his attention back to his comrades. "We should all eat and get some rest." With that the conversation was closed.

---

Naruto had been given first watch. First and last watch were the most sought after ones to have, for it meant a less-interupted sleep. The last few nights they'd been given to Sakura and Tenten, but tonight Kakashi had given it to Naruto. Naruto had the feeling that Kakashi knew he wouldn't be sleeping tonight anyway and wasn't expecting Naruto to waken anyone for their turn anyway.

The blue eyed boy sighed as he poked the bright fire with a long stick. He hadn't meant to kill that man, but he'd been angry and scared and his Rasengan was more powerful than he'd expected it to be. Jiraiya would be angry at him, Naruto thought bemusedly. He'd lost control.

Naruto turned his head to a shuffling sound coming from the tent Sakura and Tenten shared, only to see a pink head pop out. He didn't speak until she sat down next to him.

"What are you doing up?" He poked the fire again.

"Well, I couldn't sleep." She shivered a little and Naruto poked the fire a few more times to conjure up a larger flame. "I kept replaying the events of the day in my mind and I realized I never thanked you."

"For what?" Naruto asked, still confused by how Sakura was acting today.

"For what you did. You killed that bandit," Sakura said, her voice hitching only a little at the word killed.

"I didn't mean to. It's 'cuz I was weak." It was still for a moment before Naruto turned his head around to see Sasuke silently come up on his other side to sit. "What are you doing up, Teme?"

"What did you mean, it's 'cuz you were weak?" Sasuke ignored his question/jibe.

Naruto shrugged as he stared back into the fire. "The Old Man, Ero-Sennin, and even Baa-chan have all told me that it's easier to kill someone than to merely stop them. That's why so many people die, they said, because others were too weak to do anything but kill them. I'm weak, so I lost control, and I killed that man even though I didn't mean to."

The three sat in silence for a while, listening to the crack of the fire.

"But…doesn't getting strong mean you'll have to kill more people?" Sakura asked, breaking the calm with the question both she and Sasuke wanted to ask.

Naruto blinked slowly. "I'm going to try to become as strong as I can while killing as few as I can so that I'll be able to protect as many people as possible. It's why I want to be the Hokage."

Sakura quirked a smile, "Hey, you become Hokage, and I'll become the director at the hospital and we'll be able to help and protect everyone."

"Me too." Sasuke suddenly said. The others turned to him. "I'll lead the ANBU or maybe start up the Military Police again and then we can all three protect everyone."

"But what about your ambition? To avenge your clan?" Naruto asked him quietly, not wanting to set the boy off.

"I'll do that too, eventually, but it's not like my parents can care anymore whether or not they're avenged today or years from now." Sasuke paused. "This doesn't change anything, you're still a loser, but everyone else seems to think you can become Hokage some day, so maybe you can. If you do then I need to do something equally impressive. I can't be left behind by the dead last after all." Sasuke smirked at him and Naruto glowered as Sakura laughed.

--

Hidden in the trees above them, Kakashi smiled. His team was finally getting it.

---

Six days later, they were finally entering Konoha again. Sakura had the world's biggest headache at the time, Lee kept trying to get Neji to fight him, Neji kept trying to goad Naruto into fighting him, Naruto kept accepting before Sasuke would hit him in the head and tell him to stop and Gai kept going on and on about youth and springtime even though it was not spring.

"It's nice to be back isn't it?" Tenten commented a little dryly, just sick of all the male's antics.

"Tell me about it. I can't wait to go home, take a shower, and most importantly get away from these boys." Sakura moaned.

"But first we have to go see Tsunade-sama." Tenten laughed at her in pity for them, wholeheartedly agreeing with the girl.

"Great! Now I have to listen to Naruto and Tsunade-sama go on and on." Sakura groaned this time, wondering what would happen if she just didn't show up at the Hokage's Tower.

"Cheer up Sakura, it won't take long." Kakashi told her without looking up from his book. Sakura just smirked evilly at the man. She was waiting for the day he ran into a pole while reading that smut…

They were quickly ushered into the Hokage's office by some stressed looking guards.

"It's about time you all got back. The past two days all Hokage-sama has done is asked if you got back yet and threaten us with bodily harm if we didn't tell her the moment you stepped foot into Konoha." One of the guards told Kakashi with a twitch of an eyebrow.

"Heya Baa-chan!" Naruto cried as he strode into the room, banging one of the doors into the wall. A desk clock flew out of nowhere and hit him square in the face before he was snatched into a bear hug.

"Don't call me that you twerp." Tsunade spoke even as she was holding Naruto a foot off the ground in her arms.

"Ox-oxygen…" Naruto gasped and Tsunade promptly dropped him onto the ground with a _thud_.

"I see you all made it back in one piece." Tsunade said with the utmost dignity and everyone knew that what they had just witnessed was never to be spoken of again. "Well, let's get this over with." She moved back to her desk and began shuffling things around. "Dammit where is it? Why does Shizune always have to be off somewhere when I need something?" She murmured, now lifting things up off her desk in no order.

Both Team 7 and Team Gai sighed lightly, they all had a feeling that scenes like this would become commonplace in the Hokage's office from then on.

Naruto mumbled something that sounded vaguely like 'Incompetent old hags' (which the Hokage thankfully did not hear) before walking over to a shelf near the doors. Once there he found the proper folder and carried back over to the Hokage's desk.

"Here, this is it," He told her monotonously.

"Ah, thank you. You know maybe you should help me out here sometimes, I don't know what the hell I'm doing and Shizune's always over at the hospital." Tsunade mentioned as she flipped the pages in the folder until she found a blank one. "Okay, Gai and Kakashi, I need you to give me your written reports by tomorrow but until then I just need a rough outline of what occurred."

Kakashi and Gai glanced at each other before Kakashi stepped forward and began to narrate what had occurred, glossing over the clients reaction to Naruto having killed someone. He just had this hunch that the Fifth would not appreciate one of her favorite people being called a monster. She'd read about it tomorrow anyway, when he was far, _far_ away…

"And that's all." Kakashi finished dully.

"I see. What would you say is the likelihood that they will hire Konoha again?" Tsunade narrowed her eyes. This mission sounded like it had been an unqualified disaster!

"Well, they probably won't hire our teams again." Kakashi replied blandly.

"You all need to work on your public relations." Tsunade sighed irritably as she made a note in the file. "Naruto, how are you feeling, this was your first mission kill, correct?" She knew it was correct, Tsunade had read everything she could find on Naruto the day she'd been instated.

"Yeah, I guess." Naruto shrugged. "I'm okay though, it's, well, it's not that big of a deal." Naruto finished lamely.

"I see." Tsunade sighed again. She'd been doing that a lot lately. "Well you are all free to go, but Kakashi and Gai don't forget that I need those reports!" As they all turned to leave however she spoke again. "Naruto, you stay here." Her voice was hard.

Sakura turned back, worried that Naruto was going to get in trouble for something. Looking through the opening of the door right before Kakashi shut it however, she saw Tsunade wrapping Naruto back into a hug as he hugged her back. Sakura turned back around with a small smile on her face.

Things were going to be okay.

---

**Omake 1: The Ramen Eating Competition**

What started out as a typical Wednesday afternoon training with Kakashi soon devolved into a gathering of the Rookie Nine. Asuma had come to speak with Kakashi about something, dragging his team behind him, not that Ino minded, as she got to see Sasuke-kun, and then Kurenai had come to speak with Asuma bringing her team along as well.

Kakashi quickly gave up training after Ino attempted to glomp Sasuke and Sakura screamed at her for messing with her teammate. Naruto had been laughing at the look on Sasuke's face and Sasuke was trying desperately to get Ino off him. Shikamaru had wondered over to the shade under a tree with a mumbled 'Troublesome' under his breath and Chouji followed him smiling and munching on chips.

When Kiba arrived he began mocking Naruto as Hinata timidly muttered a hello, Shino also wondering over to the tree, not so much for the shade but for the caterpillar climbing on it.

Somehow, and Sakura still isn't quite sure how it happened, they all, including the sensei, ended up at Ichiraku Ramen. Sakura just knew Naruto was somehow involved.

"So, Forehead-girl, how's training?" Ino turned to Sakura after Sasuke had made it abundantly clear that he was going to ignore the entire populous of Ichiraku's.

"None of your business Ino-pig," Sakura told her blandly. The two instantly engaged in a staring contest.

"Oy! How about some more ramen?" Naruto called out, waving a bowl around.

"Coming right up, Miso Pork okay?" Old Man Ichiraku said with a smile. Naruto _was_ his favorite customer after all.

"Yeah!"

"Me as well, and make it two bowls." Chouji added in. Suddenly a spark seemed to fly between Naruto and Chouji.

"Hey, give me three more bowls." Naruto cried.

"Four."

"Five."

"Ten!"

"Twenty!"

Everyone had turned around to stare at the two.

"Heh heh heh." Naruto chuckled darkly. "I CHALLENGE YOU TO A RAMEN EATING CONTEST!"

"I ACCEPT!" Chouji agreed equally as loudly.

"May the best man win!" Naruto said as the two shook hands.

The ramen vendor was in heaven just thinking about the profits this would bring him.

The members of Team 7 and Team 10 were all shaking their heads in exasperation as Team 8 looked on in bewilderment.

"ITADAKIMASU!" A joint cry rang out as the two competitors began eating.

---

Three hours later, as Team 7 supported the now overly stuffed and swirly eyed Naruto and Team 10 supported the bloated and moaning Chouji, and Team 8 simply sat open mouthed and aghast at what they'd seen, the competition was called a tie at 57 bowls each.

The ramen vendor was planning his next vacation.

--

**Omake 2: Naruto Helps the Hokage**

A week after returning from his joint mission with Team Gai, Naruto found out that Tsunade was indeed serious about having Naruto help her in the Hokage's Office.

Tsunade had appeared at his apartment that morning and dragged him off to the Tower, despite his protests that he had to train with Ero-sennin.

"Jiraiya can wait. Think of this as training for when you become Hokage." She told him as she deposited him in one of the chairs in her office. Already two Kage-Bushin Tsunades were hard at work filling out various forms and whatnot.

After the training for Hokage comment Naruto was more than willing to help Tsunade.

Within an hour, they had tamed the haphazard mountains of paperwork into neat orderly stacks, while the clones busily set to the completion of uncompleted forms. Tsunade was ecstatic to realize that much of the papers floating around were simple notices and memos of things going on in the village and she didn't have to actually read them.

"Anything on blue paper can just be tossed. If it's white you should get around to it within a week. Yellow means that it should be looked at before two days are over. Red means it's urgent and should be attended to first." Naruto explained calmly.

"Wait! I got a whole stack of those red ones! They're urgent?!" Tsunade's eyes widened.

"YES! Didn't one of the Chunin assistants explain this all to you!?" Naruto begin shuffling around various stacks looking for the red notices.

"NO! I fired most of them for being idiots the first day. Mostly Shizune has just been helping me." Tsunade too began searching around, although less orderly than Naruto as she was just flinging papers around wildly.

Naruto cursed loudly.

---

Another hour and they had found the stack and dealt with most of it. It was eight in the morning by this point and time for teams and ninjas to head in for mission assignments.

Tsunade dispelled her two clones before settling herself behind her desk. Naruto was still running around in the background organizing forms.

The first team to come in was Team 10. They all looked at Naruto oddly.

"What're you doing here dobe?" Kiba said voicing the unspoken question.

"What does it look like I'm doing Dog-breath? I'm organizing things around here since Baa-chan's incapable." The desk clock suddenly appeared out of nowhere and struck him in the side of his head.

"Watch it twerp!" Tsunade snapped at him. She turned back to Team 10. "Now, what can I do for you?" She said sweetly while smiling brightly at them.

"Er, we would like a C-rank mission." Kurenai told her feeling uncomfortable in the attention of that smile.

"Right. Naruto, C-rank!" Tsunade barked. Naruto moved to a stack of files against the far wall and looked briefly at the tabs. Finding one appropriate for a genin team he snatched it deftly out of the stack.

"Here." Naruto sent it flying expertly across the room into Tsunade's hand.

"Well, let's see then…" Tsunade murmured opening the folder.

---

Three hours later and teams had stopped coming in for missions.

"Time for lunch!" Tsunade called cheerfully as she stretched in her seat. Reaching down she pulled a large jug of sake out of her desk. "Sake for lunch. Perfect!" She took a swig.

"You call that lunch?" Naruto stared at her incredulously.

"What do _you_ think constitutes lunch?" Tsunade gave him the stink eye.

"… What does 'constitutes' mean?" Naruto asked her blankly. Tsunade sighed and rubbed her temples.

"What do you think makes up a good lunch?"

"Ramen!"

"Of course." Tsunade mumbled as she put away the bottle. "Well let's go get some ramen then, but we need to come _right_ back!"

Naruto was already out the door.

---

After lunch, they went back to the office. Tsunade made a couple of clones and she and her doubles started filling out whatever paperwork Naruto handed them.

Naruto meanwhile, was disposing of outdated paperwork and piling everything else in stacks according to importance and subject.

It was dusty work and Naruto was soon covered in grime.

"Urgh, I don't think this place has been cleaned out since the Shodai." Naruto grumbled as he found a stack of halfway completed forms dating back 50 years.

"Just keep cleaning. I'll give you C-rank mission pay if you can get this place organized." Tsunade told him.

---

A few more hours later and Naruto had lost track of time completely. Tsunade was in rapture. They had completed most of the backlogged paperwork and the office was looking better than ever. Tsunade was almost at the point of giving Naruto A-rank pay.

A small knock sounded at the door and Tsunade hastily dispelled her clones before the door opened. It was Kakashi, Sakura, and Sasuke.

"Ah, I thought so." Kakashi said. Naruto looked over his shoulder from his place at a bookshelf.

"Kakashi-sensei? Why are you here?" Naruto asked shoving another bound volume onto the shelf.

"Naruto… you forgot about team training didn't you." Kakashi told him with a sigh.

"What? What time is it?" Naruto cried dropping another volume onto the floor.

"It's 5." Sakura told him.

"Sorry. He was here helping me." Tsunade laughed joyously. "Look at this place. It's so clean and I got so much paperwork done." She spread her arms out to gesture around the room.

"That's okay Hokage-sama." Kakashi said. "We'll just go now. Naruto can help you for as long as you want."

"Great." Tsunade smiled. Only Naruto noticed it looked slightly evil…

---

A few more hours later, Naruto finally crawled into bed, exhausted. That was tougher than even the Tora the Cat mission!

**Author's Note Reprise: **Well, as you can see, by looking below, at least Snicky likes this chapter. I'm starting to fear that all my chapters will start being this long, which means fewer updates cause long chapters means more time to write. ANYWAYS- You guys rock so hard with all the reviews, although the alerts are still beating them out by about 100. Anyways I upped how many reviews it takes to get an Omake. Keep reviewing! I didn't respond to reviews this time cause I was out of town, but I will do so for this chapter.

Also: According to Snicky I don't but enough Sasuke in. Mostly cause he's hell to write. grumbles but I will try to pay him more attention.

**Snicky's Note! **My goodness! BOW DOWN TO THE AUTHORESS, she hath given ye SEVENTEEN PAGES of AAP greatness! Sooo long:cries: This chapter was PURE genius! But look! The preview! Read it! Have you read it yet? Yes! You may scream! Can you SEE how awesome Zessei is? She says it may take a tad longer than usually, but seriously, peoples. Can you already not see its greatness?

**Jutsu Notes:** None!

**PREVIEW:**

"I sure you can all guess why I've summoned you here." Tsunade rubbed her temples as she looked around at the milling Jounin. "The Chunin Exams are to be held in Iwa in a week. I've called you here to tell you that only one team will be allowed to participate this time."

**REVIEW OR I'LL EAT YOU! RAWGH! 45+ Reviews Gets An OMAKE!**


	11. Chapter 11

**An Alternative Path **

**Author's note: **Apparently I can no longer tell what is crap and what is not cause I hated the last chapter but you all loved it xD Anyways this chapter is dedicated to Lord Myst who leaves really long reviews and PMs but who tells me things I need to hear. You rock! This chapter is also dedicated to cake, cause cake is awesome. Anyways this is both a time skip and a filler chapter, but it's still a good chapter I think, it goes into their training a lot anyways. Next chapter is another joint mission C-rank with Team 8. There will be a cool surprise as well. Heheheh.

And here's hoping that the next year will be as great as this one:

**HAPPY NEW YEAR! WOOT!**

**IMPORTANT: **This story is AU. That means ALTERNATE UNIVERSE. That means I can do whatever the hell I want and you have to suck it up and deal.

**Pairings: **Jeez, some of you people are serious about your pairings. I've even gotten some P.M.s about it. I wish to reiterate, FRIENDSHIP is the strongest influence in my manga. The romance will typically be the 'squint hard to find it' kind.

**BTW: **I don't own Naruto!

**Chunin Exams What?**

Four months passed quickly for Team 7.

Naruto had continued his morning training with Jiraiya and afternoons with the team, although once a week he was dragged off by Tsunade to organize her office again. When Jiraiya had left, off to who knows where, he'd dump a large amount of scrolls on Naruto's head, literally.

"I'll be back in a few months, until then, study these, commit them to memory, freaking marry them! There'll be a quiz when I get back." Jiraiya had told him as the blonde hurriedly picked them up from the ground.

"What are they?" Naruto asked him. The outside bands were blank and offering no clue.

"These are what you'll need to know before we can even _touch_ the Yondaime's Hiraishin." Jiraiya's answer excited him and Naruto unrolled one of the scrolls immediately.

"Advanced Applied and Philosophical Mathematical Formula in Correspondence with the Spatial, Structural, and Quantitative Aspects of the Sealing Arts," He read out loud.

"…" Small birds could be heard chirping.

"WHAT THE HELL DOES THIS EVEN MEAN!?"

"... You may want to start with the blue one." Jiraiya sighed. Naruto picked it out of the small pile he'd placed on a stump in the training field.

"Everything You Need To Know About Seals But Were Too Stupid To Figure Out For Yourself," Was the titled of this one. "By Sajiki Atsuko... Is this woman crazy?"

"She wrote the other one too. In fact Sajiki Atsuko has written more treatises and theories on Fuinjutsu than anyone before her, and she's only 32! Not that she looks it. Like Tsunade she constantly changes her appearance and usually appears about twenty." Jiraiya picked through the scrolls before holding up one with a white and red band. "This one is the only one not written by Atsuko-chan. It was written by the first Tsuchikage."

"...So I have to memorize all of these?" Naruto looked of the pile of about ten scrolls.

"YES! If you don't have a thorough understanding of Fuinjutsu before you attempt the Hiraishin you just might turn yourself inside-out." Jiraiya lectured him. "I know this stuff looks tough but you don't really need to master all of it. As long as you get the basics from the scrolls I should be able to teach you the rest when I get back."

"...So I have to memorize all of these?" Naruto repeated.

Jiraiya had hit him in the head.

Naruto sighed as he took a seat on the bench he and Sakura had put on their bridge meeting location. Sakura had said that if Kakashi was going to keep them waiting all the time then they shouldn't have to stand or sit on the ground. So far no one had removed the cheap bench so Team 7 figured no one cared they had put it there.

Reaching into a pocket he dug out the blue banded scroll. For the past three days Jiraiya had been gone he'd been trying to make his way through it. It wasn't full of mathematical equations and 'genius speak' but it was still tough. The first paragraph in fact had been quite a doozy.

_"When it comes to crafting Seals there are seven taboos which must at all times be heeded. Failure to conform to these taboos will lead, undoubtedly, to death. That is the nature of Fuinjutsu. There is no room for carelessness or error. Seals are the greatest Art upon this, our miserable world, given to a select few to master by the very Gods themselves and we must take it upon ourselves to abide their laws or else suffer their swift and brutal displeasure." _

From what Naruto could gather Fuinjutsu required extensive understanding math and science in order to do, mostly math, and this Sajiki person thought a lot about herself.

Still, he persevered with the scroll, reading it whenever he had free time.

Suddenly a form flopped down beside his place on the bench. He turned his head to see a mop of pink hair.

"Hey Sakura-chan." Naruto greeted her.

"Hey..." She mumbled back, almost incoherently.

"You okay?" Naruto asked her.

"Yes. No. I don't know." She raked a hand through her long hair. "Today I had to be in the surgery room when some guy came in with a mangled leg. It had to be amputated."

Naruto sat in silence not knowing what to say.

"I mean, I know that if they hadn't it would have just gotten infected and gangrenous but it was still awful." She closed her eyes. "Sometimes I wonder if I can really be a doctor."

"I think you can do it." Naruto told her encouragingly. "You just have to remember why you're doing it."

Sakura smiled a little. Naruto was right. She wanted to help people, even if that meant hacking off a few limbs here and there.

"What're you reading?" Sakura asked him, changing the subject.

"Everything You Need To Know About Seals But Were Too Stupid To Figure Out For Yourself." Naruto told her. She made a face.

"Who the hell names something that!?" She cried.

"Sajiki Atsuko." Naruto told her.

"Who's that?" Sasuke asked as he walked up. "What're you talking about?"

"This Sajiki woman is apparently 'God's Gift to Fuinjutsu'. She's written a bunch of stuff on them and invented close to 500 seals. She's considered a genius and is known as Sajiki no Sen Fuin--Sajiki of the Thousand Seals. She's also still really young so everyone figures she's going to keep cranking out seals and stuff. She doesn't have a home village and she isn't a Kunoichi, she just kinda travels around inventing seals and writing things like this." Naruto waved the scroll around before Sasuke snatched it from his hand.

"Everything You Need To Know About Seals But Were Too Stupid To Figure Out For Yourself." Sasuke looked down at the scroll in mild disbelief. "Who names things like that?"

"How did you know so much about her?" Sakura asked, mildly impressed that he went to the trouble to learn so much about the author.

"It's written at the top of the scroll." Naruto shrugged.

Indeed it was. Sasuke found the appropriate paragraph and read aloud.

_"I am the amazing and totally fantastic Sajiki Atsuko, also known as God's Gift to Fuinjutsu, and Sajiki no Sen Fuin. I know more about seals then you could learn in several lifetimes. Lucky for you I have decided to impart my genius and general awesomeness to you, you idiot. After all I am the beautiful and elegant creator of close to 500 different Fuinjutsu and seeing as I'm still incredibly young at the age of 32, will likely continue to craft outstanding Seals even as you attempt to merely read this scroll. _

"_Oh, and if for some strange reason you take offense at anything in this scroll or decide that I must serve you or whatever, know that I have no permanent village, am not a Shinobi, and you will never find me. Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha!" _Sasuke read dully.

"That woman is insane..." Sakura said after a silent minute.

"Pretty much." Naruto agreed. "But she knows her stuff."

"I'm really glad Kakashi is simply pounding every conceivable war time strategy into my head instead of this stuff." Sasuke said as he skimmed over parts of the scroll.

"Tell me about it! I have ten scrolls to read and they only get harder! Nine of them were written by this lady." Naruto threw up his arms in outrage.

"Why?" Sakura asked him. "Do you want to become a Fuinjutsu Master?"

"No. But in order to learn some more of the Yondaime's techniques from Ero-sennin I have to know it." Naruto told her with a sigh.

To be honest, he didn't want to have to learn it. It looked hard and complicated and he'd never heard of a Shinobi using a seal in actual combat, what the Yondaime did with him and the Kyuubi was a different matter. He preferred the Ninjutsu and Taijutsu he'd been learning.

Naruto had been learning chakra draining attacks, mostly of the Wind or Water variety, whereas Sasuke had learned a few close combat Fire and Lightning jutsu, and Sakura had learned a couple of defensive Earth jutsus. Sakura however, was increasing by leaps and bounds in her medic training, although she'd stagnated a little on the Genjutsu, claiming she'd rather focus on medicine.

Taijutsu training however had increased greatly for all of them.

Naruto was learning something called Form-Intent Fist. His movements still looked rough and untaught but they weren't. The style was simply meant to overwhelm his opponent with powerful attacks. There was little defense in it, the idea was to knock your opponent out without getting hit back. Speed was important and something Naruto lacked, so Kakashi and Jiraiya both had forced weights onto him.

Sasuke was learning Five Ancestors, and he loved it. Five Ancestors was actually a combination of five other Taijutsu styles, and was thus harder to learn as the basics of each style had to be taught first before learning how to combine them. The movements were concise and perfect; no unneeded energy would be expended. There was a mental aspect of it as well, called the Three Battles, combat preparation, combat tactics, and combat strategy.

Sakura was learning something that didn't have a name. This was because Kakashi was just taking elements from various styles he'd copied and was teaching her them. Almost everything had to do with the legs though, she never used her hands for anything but blocks, and even that was rare as she typically dodged anything that came at her. She was subjugated to weights as well to increase not only her speed, but the strength in her legs. Her movements were described by both Sasuke and Naruto, who were often at the other end of them, as elegant but brutal. The brutal came from Sasuke after she accidentally broke one of his ribs.

Sasuke sighed as he looked at his team. Naruto had gone back to reading the scroll and Sakura was hovering over his shoulder to get a glimpse of it as well. He never thought things would be so…peaceful with Naruto's loudness, Kakashi's sadistic tendencies and Sakura's propensity to lecture and give swift, painful punishments when you didn't listen.

Somehow, before he'd even realized it was happening he'd started to care about all of them. He hadn't meant for that to happen. He made a fist and stared at it as he leaned on the bridge railing. He'd made a promise months ago to Sakura and Naruto, and he was surprised to find that he really wanted to keep it. He wanted revenge for his clan as well, but if he was to be honest with himself he probably wasn't good enough yet and he had no idea where Itachi even was. Any information on him was sealed to anyone below Jounin or ANBU rank.

Besides, his team wasn't so bad. After Sakura had started the original training right after the Wave mission she'd been too tired to hound him. Even after she had less on her plate she still didn't constantly pester or fawn over him. Kakashi had said she was getting more serious. Although if Ino was around she reverted back to screaming, it was however less about Sasuke-kun and more about her teammates in general. Sasuke smiled when he remembered what Sakura had done to Kiba when he'd called Naruto a dobe a couple of weeks ago.

They'd just happen to run into Team 8 on their way home from training. Naruto was nursing a broken hand that he refused to let Sakura see or go to the hospital or Hokage for treatment. Sakura was pestering Naruto to go see a doctor and pestering Sasuke to convince Naruto when she couldn't. Sasuke was ignoring them both and thinking about what he was going to eat for dinner.

"Oy! If it isn't Team 7! Long time no see." Kiba called from across the street, Shino and Hinata beside him.

"Hello." Shino said mildly with a nod.

"Ano... H-hi." Hinata muttered, a small blush powdering her cheeks.

"Hey! What's up?" Naruto called as he crossed over to them; Sakura and Sasuke drifting along in his wake.

"Nothing much, training, missions, that kind of crap. What happened to you?" Kiba asked when he noticed Naruto cradling his still swollen and purple hand, although Sakura noticed it was looking a lot better than it had twenty minutes ago.

"Broke my hand training, but it's fine. Should be all healed up by tomorrow." Naruto shrugged.

"...Bones take six to eight weeks to heal." Shino replied.

"Really?" Naruto said lightly cursing himself in his mind for his mistake.

"Yeah really. No wonder you hurt yourself, dobe!" Kiba threw back his head and laughed for a second before he was punched right in the kisser.

"Don't talk about my teammate that way." Sakura growled before shaking out her hand. "Ow Ow Ow! Is his face made of steel?"

"Sakura-chan! Did you hurt yourself?" Naruto asked as Sasuke grunted agreement.

"No it's fine. He had it coming. Now let's go." With that she walked off, Naruto and Sasuke hurrying after her.

Sasuke frowned as he remembered that Naruto had indeed been fine the next day. When asked, he'd laughed lightly before claiming to have gone to see the Hokage to get it healed, but it was obviously a lie. Naruto was a very bad liar.

To be perfectly honest, sometimes Naruto seemed like a complete moron, yet other times he would say or do something genius, especially in the midst of battle. Kakashi had once commented to him that Naruto instinctively knew more about combat than he could teach. Sasuke was surprised and had asked what he meant.

"Sometimes there are people who exist for battle. In everyday life they might be plain, or normal, and seem average or even stupid; but you get them in a fight and it changes. Suddenly they are smarter than you, faster than you, and all around better than you. It's a humbling thing to witness." Kakashi told him.

"Are you one of these people?" Sasuke had asked him.

"No, I'm not. These are rare people and they are getting rarer." Kakashi replied. "Still, there is no one I'd rather have beside me on the battle field, and no one I'd least like to see fighting me. Haven't you noticed it though?" Kakashi asked suddenly.

"Noticed what?" Sasuke asked.

"Naruto never loses." Kakashi said simply. "He either wins or forces you to draw. Even if he is beaten momentarily he comes back at you with a new strategy, and that's usually enough to do it. Naruto fights like a beast or a man possessed. You can't tell me you haven't noticed at least that?"

But Sasuke had noticed, he simply had refused to recognize it. At first Sasuke had been incredibly jealous and mad that Naruto would be better at combat then him, an Uchiha. But going on missions with Naruto and sparring against him Sasuke realized, Kakashi was right. There was no one he'd rather have on his side.

Naruto was fierce in battle.

Luckily Naruto's ability to think on the fly in battle meant he could direct them what to do too. In the beginning, the Uchiha had resisted any suggestion or command Naruto had given, but then he realized that Sakura and even Kakashi followed Naruto's directives to impressive results, so he'd begun to listen as well. Sasuke wondered if Naruto even realized what he was doing. He didn't seem to.

Sasuke had, mostly, gotten over it 'cause he had his place too. Sasuke had, despite his intense dislike for it, become the official social liaison between Team 7 and any civilians. This was due to many reasons: 1. Sasuke had training as a child to deal with tricky situations, 2. Kakashi couldn't be bothered, 3. Naruto was inept with dealing with anyone who wasn't a ninja, and 4. Sakura was too hot tempered to do it.

Sakura's temper had come a little as a surprise to him, Naruto had already had to deal with it and Kakashi just didn't care, but he never had to face it before. Sakura's changes were perhaps the most noticeable.

She'd gone from being almost withdrawn and shy around him and overly critical and nasty around Naruto to treating them both as equals (well, okay, she still insulted Naruto but it was mostly teasing, except when he deserved it.). She'd also taken to mothering everyone on the team, even if her idea of mothering was to tell everyone what to do loudly. Still, there was comfort in having someone tell him (loudly) to eat all his rations and sharpen his kunai, even if it was slightly irritating, too.

He sighed as he spotted Kakashi coming from his vantage point of standing. He made a small motion at Naruto and Sakura and they both looked up and over at Kakashi.

Today he was 43 minutes late. Kakashi never changed.

---

Today Kakashi actually had a good reason for being late, not that he'd tell his team that. To them he gave some excuse involving peanut butter and rabbits. They'd all given him the stink eye and moved to the training field wordlessly.

Even as he set up Naruto and Sakura to start sparring and told Sasuke to watch them with his Sharingan active, Naruto and Sakura agreed long ago to allow him to do this after hearing about its copying abilities, Kakashi's mind was elsewhere. Specifically, it was on his reason for being late.

---

"I am sure you can all guess why I've summoned you here." Tsunade rubbed her temples as she looked around at the milling Jounin. "The Chunin Exams are to be held in Iwa in a week. I've called you here to tell you that only one team will be allowed to participate this time."

Instantly loud murmuring filled the room.

"Quiet!" Tsunade called and the mass once again became silent. "There is a good reason for this. As you know, Iwa, though professing neutrality to us, holds deep grudges for the last war, as does Kumo which will be sending several teams and still has an alliance with Iwa. I fear that, in their home environment, Iwa might join with Kumo and attack our genin teams, and not with the intention to knock them out of the competition, but rather to kill."

"But Hokage-sama, these things are to be expected. Each team goes knowing they are putting their life on the line, indeed that is the whole point of being a shinobi!" A Jounin replied.

"True, but I am the Hokage, and as such my whole point of existence is to not put my shinobi in detrimental situations for no good reason." Tsunade snarled back. "The fact is, with the judges being so critical of Konoha and with Iwa being so far and expensive to travel to, it just isn't expedient for us to send our genin there to fail." Many of the Jounin's present began murmuring again, this time in agreement.

"How many of you really expect your team to pass? How many of you even plan on nominating your teams? One team will go, because it would be horribly rude of us to snub Iwa and we can't disrupt our precarious peace with them, but it will be a team I think is most likely to pass or if not pass, at least survive." Tsunade sighed. "Now, which of you is willing to nominate your teams?"

Nobody moved, but instead glanced among each other. Finally Kakashi stepped forward.

"I, Hatake Kakashi, instructor of Team 7, nominate Haruno Sakura, Uchiha Sasuke, and Uzumaki Naruto for the Chunin Exams." He said formally. Tsunade paled noticeably.

"You really want to send him, THEM, I mean, into Iwa after all I told you?" She said with a forced calm.

"I believe them prepared." Kakashi replied monotonously.

"I see." Tsunade swallowed the lump in her throat and turned back to the others. "Who else?"

In the end only three other teams were nominated, all with members between the ages of 17 and 20. Tsunade closed her eyes and rubbed her temples again.

"Those that have not nominated a team are free to go." She turned to Shizune as the various Jounin exited the room. "Get me the files on these teams." She told her. Shizune nodded and scuttled off towards one of the bookcases lining the room. She returned in only a minute, having no difficulty finding them. Tsunade raised and eyebrow. "That was fast."

"Naruto-kun did an excellent job organizing this place." She explained, handing them over.

Tsunade flipped through the folders, all about equal thickness despite the fact that Team 7's should have been shorter. She instantly saw it was due to a variety of information on Naruto.

The remaining Jounin shuffled impatiently, unsure what to do. After 20 minutes, however, Tsunade closed the last folder and looked up at them.

"I've made my decision. Yamura Hitao, your team will go." She announced.

"Tsunade-sama," Kakashi said. "Forgive me, but I can't help but wonder what your thinking was."

"Do you think I made the wrong choice?" Tsunade leveled Kakashi with a look that suggested he shut up and back away slowly, but Kakashi ignored it.

"I just wonder if you didn't perhaps let personal feelings enter into your decision." He stated.

By now the other Jounin were looking at him like he was crazy, and maybe he was, but he just wanted to make sure his team had been fairly considered.

"… Maybe I did." Tsunade said.

"But that-" Kakashi began before Tsunade held up a slim hand to silence him.

"Your team has incredible potential, more than any other genin team in existence today." She told them. "I want to see them all reach that potential. I would rather they be held back six months then potentially fail now, and risk losing their life in the interim." She sighed yet again.

"…All of them or just Naruto." Kakashi asked. He was angry that Tsunade might be preventing them for no other reason than her desire to keep Naruto beside her.

"SHUT UP!" Tsunade screamed at him and he and the other three Jounin recoiled slightly. "You're right. I care greatly for Naruto. If something happened to him, if he died, I don't know what I'd do, but I will never, ever, carelessly prevent him from achieving the greatness he deserves for such a selfish reason. But this time the risks far outweigh the potential benefits. Your team is strong, Kakashi, but they need more time to face what might come at them in Iwa."

"I apologize. I see now you were merely looking out in their best interests." Kakashi bowed to her.

"6 months." She said in reply.

"Huh?" Kakashi asked oh so intelligently, straightening up.

"In 6 months the Chunin Exams will be held here, in Konoha. They will compete then, and no doubt be made Chunin." Tsunade told him.

"Why are they being held here again so soon?" He asked.

"Do you know how the village is chosen to host the Exam?" She looked at each of the Jounin in turn. They all shook their heads. "It's basically bribery. The Exams can only be held in one of the Five Great Countries so the village that wants it pays the other villages to let them have it. Typically, the amount is huge so a village can't afford to host it but once every couple of years. Thanks in large part to Naruto's ungodly luck at gambling, I amassed enough money to successfully bribe the other countries, although my debts are still huge." Tsunade scowled at the reminder. "I only did it to show the other village's that Konoha was not weakened by the Suna-Oto attack."

"That week long 'training trip' Jiraiya and Naruto took a month ago, that's when you got all the money isn't it?" Kakashi asked suddenly. Naruto had come back from that trip exhausted but with nothing new to show for it and he refused to speak of it.

"Yes. They went to Tobaku, the big casino town at the edge of Fire Country. Naruto played twenty hours out of the day for five days to get us the money for it. Although, now Naruto is refusing to gamble anymore." Tsunade grumbled something under her breath about unthankful twerps.

"Is that all, Hatake? I still have a lot of work to do, you know." Tsunade told him. He shook his head. "Anyone else?" she called out and the other Jounin gave the negative as well. "Then what are you doing? Get the hell out!" They scrambled.

---

Kakashi watched dispassionately as Naruto avoided a kick to his navel from Sakura and instead whirled around the leg, stood nearly toe to toe with her, bent forward slightly, and drove a fist into Sakura's side, elbow still close to his own side. He stepped back instantly as Sakura jumped back before racing back to him.

Sakura attempted a high kick to the head but Naruto simple slid into the Forward Stance, head, spine and left leg aligned in a straight line with his front leg bent, lowing him enough for Sakura's kick to fly harmlessly over his head. He then used a Water Strike to drill his open hand into Sakura's stomach, causing her to slide back a couple of inches on the hard ground.

Just as Naruto had lifted himself into the High Stance, the starting stance of Form-Intent Fist that left the user's head, chest and feet in the same vertical line, Kakashi called a halt to the fight.

"Gah! About time!" Sakura cried as she doubled over to catch her breath. Naruto's style focused almost everything on the torso, leaving her winded and feeling slight nauseous.

"Sorry Sakura-chan." Naruto apologized. She waved it off.

"It's fine. It's me. I'm just not good enough." She frowned even as she panted for air.

"That's not it at all. It's simply that Naruto's style clashes badly with your own." Kakashi told her.

"Yeah, my style without a name." She mumbled. Sometimes Sakura had to work twice as hard as the boys to pull her various moves from various styles into one cohesive form.

"Well, if you refine it enough you can give it a name and have the honor of being the first master of it." Kakashi smiled at her.

"Now Naruto, you're still leaving you arms too far from your body. Remember, 'the hands do not leave the heart and the elbows do not leave the ribs'. The closer you keep your arms to your torso the more power you can give the strikes," Kakashi lectured him.

"I know, I know." He grumbled.

Kakashi then looked at the sky. Close to three.

"Why don't we go to the tower and pick up a couple of quick D-ranks. I could use some pocket money." Kakashi said.

His team quickly agreed. D-rank missions were like payed breaks from hard physical training.

---

"Hello Baa-chan!" Naruto called as they walked through the doors to Tsunade's office. He then quickly dodged the flying clock. "Ha! Can't get me with tha-" He was cut off by an empty, but rather thick, jug hitting him in the face.

"Ha! You shouldn't call me that, bad things happen to people who call me that." Tsunade scolded the boy.

"Bad things _you_ cause!" Naruto replied, jug (it appeared to be a sake jug) firmly in hand.

"So? It's still bad!" Tsunade told him.

"Naruto! Stop arguing with the Hokage!" Sakura told him, slapping him in the back of the head.

"She's right, make yourself useful instead." Tsunade handed Naruto a thick stack of forms. "File these for me while I talk with the rest of your team."

Naruto grumbled but did what she asked. If he refused she'd simply do it herself, messing up his careful filing system.

"What can I do for you?" Tsunade asked pleasantly.

"We want a couple of D-ranks we can finish up before today's over." Kakashi told her.

"Right, we'll just have Naruto grab a couple out of the stack after he finishes filing." She said before turning back to the paperwork she'd been filling out concerning the Chunin Exams.

"Right," Kakashi agreed blandly, watching his blonde student file.

He was more like a filing demon, he thought, than a fox demon…

--

**OMAKE!**

**The Academy Mission**

When they'd asked for a mission they hadn't expected it to turn out quite like this.

Sasuke glared over the crowd menacingly but inside he didn't know what the hell to do.

Naruto was quickly shuffling through several documents trying to find those damn lessons plans.

Sakura was trying not to scream at them all to SHUT THE HELL UP!

And Kakashi was reading his book, until Sakura noticed and snatched it from him, showing a degree of speed she'd never before exhibited, telling him firmly 'No smut in front of the children.'

How on earth had they gotten roped into filling in for a sick teacher at the Academy?

Finally Naruto let out a whoop. He had found not only the lesson plans but the attendance log as well. Looking over it he began calling out the names of various 9 year olds.

"Amari Jien." He called and the child replied 'Hai', ticking it off he swiftly moved down the list as Sakura looked over the lesson plan.

After Naruto finished he joined the rest of Team 7 in a small huddle.

"Okay." Started Sakura. "I'll cover history and mathematics, Sasuke you do Taijutsu, and Naruto you can do Kunai practice and stealth training." She said.

"What shall I do?" Kakashi asked her.

"You go huddle in a corner somewhere and try not to give any of these kids your bad habits, Kakashi-sensei." Sakura snapped at him. She was in a bad mode because she did not want to be doing this.

Kakashi then performed a strategic retreat to a far corner, mumbling something about cold female students. Naruto and Sasuke watched him without much sympathy.

---

By lunch they were all exhausted, even Kakashi who had eventually been roped into taking care of disciplinary issues. Naruto wondered if he had been half as bad as some of these kids were.

"Oh dear Kami-sama, we still have half the day to go!" Sakura cried as she dropped herself into a chair in the teachers lounge.

"At least you don't have to do any more teaching." Naruto told her as he handed her a cup of tea he'd gotten from a pot on the stove.

"Yeah, but next is Taijutsu. Remember what our Taijutsu lessons were like?" Sakura told him.

Naruto and Sasuke instantly began picturing it. Simultaneously they both groaned before slumping down in two chairs.

"...Where did Sensei go?" Sasuke asked. The other two looked around. Kakashi wasn't there.

"Damn him! He must of run off!" Sakura cried out.

Back in the classroom Kakashi had been cornered by a dozen nine year olds wanting to know what he kept under his mask. Attempting to ward them off all he could think was 'Sasuke, Naruto, Sakura, HELP!'

---

Taijutsu practice hadn't been so bad. Or at least no one had actually died and the kids did learn something; Don't Piss Sasuke Off.

Sasuke deposited the brats into Naruto's hands.

"Good luck, remember we can't kill them." He told Naruto seriously.

"Right!" Naruto said before turning to look over his students. "Well, we'll start with Kunai Practice, BLUNT ONES ONLY, and then move to stealth."

"How is a bright orange eyesore qualified to teach us stealth?" One of them called. It was an arrogant punk that had hasseled each of them in turn. He belonged to the Hyuuga clan, though he was only a branch member, and both Sasuke and Sakura were careful when dealing with him, deciding that the trouble they might get in if they threatened him wasn't worth it.

Naruto sighed before rubbing his temple.

"Stealth just happens to be one of my strengths as a ninja. You only see me cause I let you." Naruto told him with another sigh.

"Yeah right. You look like an idiot not a ninja."

Naruto got a twitch in his jaw as he tried to prevent himself from saying something stupid.

"They're just stupid kids, they're just stupid kids. We do not maim the stupid kids." He mumbled under his breath as he passed out the blunt kunai. A couple of the meeker students backed away slightly from the expression on his face.

After they all managed to hit the target three times in a row, it took forever and Naruto wondered if he'd ever been that bad at it, he directed them all to the small patch of fake forest the Academy had.

"Alright the first, and only, rule of stealth is don't get caught." He informed. "Someone sees you and its game over." He looked over the students. "We are going to play hide and seek."

"But that's a kid's game!" Someone cried out.

"And you are all kids." He told them. "Alright, you," He pointed at the Hyuuga. "You're it first. No fancy eye things, use it and you'll get in trouble. Everyone else, hide, I'll hide too. Now start counting."

He closed his eyes and started counting, making sure to follow Naruto's chakra. He'd show Naruto, he'd catch him without even using his Byakugan, not that he could really use it that much anyway. He stumbled over the numbers when Naruto's chakra seemed to just vanish. Reaching fifty he opened his eyes and began searching for people.

Thirty minutes later everyone had been found except Naruto. The Hyuuga and the rest of the class were standing together in the woods.

"Where did he go?" One of the female students asked.

"Humph, maybe he just ran off somewhere to trick us." The Hyuuga suggested. Suddenly a orange blur jumped down in front of them.

"No I didn't." The entire class reared back. "Jeez did you even think to look up? Most people, when searching, only look at eye level and below, this is cause most people only hide at eye level and below. Remember that next time."

He pointed someone else out to be it and the game started all over again.

---

Three o'clock came and the students vanished in a loud stampeding mass out the door, leaving Team 7 slumped around the desk, exhausted.

"Never again!" vowed Naruto loudly. The other's simple nodded.

**Author's Note Reprise: **Phew, chapter done, and Snicky's right it is more of an interlude than anything else. Not to worry, the next chapter is half-way done and a lot of fun. I hope you weren't dissapointed that they didn't go to the Exams, there is a reason for that though and I swear you'll see the exams in just a couple of chapters or so. Anyways I'm upping the amount of reviews needed to get an omake again, cause I got 64 for the last chapter. By the way that's amazing, thanks so much.

Look for the next chapter in about a week or so, although it might be delayed due to me having to go to the surgeon.

Also: Because someone asked, the omakes aren't vital to read but they do have insights to the characters and events that might be mentioned later, I do try not to make it to confusing however and I explain things again in the course of the story. But still, the omakes are fun, even if they do seem to be getting longer and longer...

**Snicky's Note! **Hah! I am in love with Miss Seals Master of the Universe. She's going to be an interesting character, I mean:cough: if we ever _see_ her. Not much to say, other than this was really more of an interlude than an actual chapter. Next one should be fun, though. Teehee… But oh, be glad! Zessei got this out pretty fast!

**Taijutsu Notes:** New Section, Fun!

The two taijutsu styles mentioned are actual Chinese Martial Arts Styles whose names really are Form-Intent Fist (Xingyiquan) and Five Ancestors (Wu Zu Quán). There were some creative licenses taken however in portraying them although I tried to keep them as true to reality as possible.

For those of you who think I should have used Japanese Martial Arts, Japan has very few, most not involving weapons (and some that did) were derived from China. Plus China just has a greater variety of them. A lot of thought went in to picking the two styles for Sasuke and Naruto however I couldn't find anything that fit Sakura.

Form-Intent Fist uses concise, but somewhat blocky movements, that deliver a great amount of force with each it. It has limited stances and very few kicks, as kicks unbalance the fighter. There are a variety of blows named after the five classic Chinese elements and blows based on twelve animals. These series of blows are called Forms. The Water Form focuses on drilling horizontal palm attacks. You will see other forms as they are used in the future.

Five Ancestors Fist is a martial art that consists of techniques from five different styles:

-The hand techniques and the complementary softness and hardness of Fujian White Crane

-The agility and footwork of Monkey Kung Fu

-The precision and efficient movement of Emperor Taizu

-The posture and dynamic power of Luohan

-The breathing methods and iron body of Da mo

It also has a mental aspect in the Sam Chian, or Three Battles. Combat Preparation, Combat Tactics, and Combat Strategy. This style is often considered free formed in that teachers of it tend to had whatever forms and attacks of the five listed styles they want.

I hope you enjoyed that brief lesson.

**PREVIEW:**

"I am the one you're guarding you brat." The heavily tattooed young woman hit him over the head with a paper fan.

"Well _excuse_ me!" Naruto replied. "Doesn't seem like you need guarding with all those Yakuza tattoos."

A vein over the woman's right eye twitched violently as her pretty features twisted into a sneer.

"They aren't tattoos, idiot, they're Seals."

**REVIEW OR I'LL EAT YOU! RAWGH! 55+ Reviews Gets An OMAKE!**


	12. Chapter 12

**An Alternative Path **

**Author's note: **Ahhh Chapter Twelve. I love the smell of a fresh chapter in the morning. Anyways seeing as EVERYONE AND THEIR MOTHER guessed already, yes the woman they're guarding is Sajiki Atsuko. Jeez, I suck at this "dropping subtle clues" thing. Note to self: Work on better (less blaringly obvious) foreshadowing.

Anyways my surgery went well, although I feel like shit, I can't talk much or eat cause of the bone and skin graft but I can still write, so lucky you guys. I just want to say that anesthesia sucks, I couldn't stop shaking as I was coming out of it. This is the second time I've had this surgery, although the first time I didn't get the bone graft.

**IMPORTANT: **This story is AU. That means ALTERNATE UNIVERSE. That means I can do whatever the hell I want and you have to suck it up and deal.

**Pairings: **Jeez, some of you people are serious about your pairings. I've even gotten some P.M.s about it. I wish to reiterate, FRIENDSHIP is the strongest influence in my manga. The romance will typically be the 'squint hard to find it' kind.

**BTW: **I don't own Naruto! I do however now own Sajiki Atsuko. You can borrow her if you give me credit.

**Mission Time; Guarding God's Gift. **

It was a Tuesday so Kakashi said it was a good day to start a C-rank mission. His students had no idea what it being Tuesday had to do with anything, but, nonetheless, they drifted behind him silently towards the Hokage's office.

After the (now customary) disrespectful greeting from Naruto and heavy-desk-clock-in-the-face retaliation from Tsunade, they got down to business. Kind of.

"Anyways, since you're here, find me the file on the current academy enrollment would ya? Tsunade asked Naruto, although it more of an order than a request.

Scowling fiercely, Naruto did what he was told. Boy, did he ever regret agreeing to help Tsunade organize her office.

"Tsunade-sama, Team 7 is here to request a C-" Was as far as Kakashi got before a scroll was thrown at his head.

"Thank god! I thought I'd have to go get someone. It's a dual squad guarding mission to the border of Suna. Leaving at one o'clock so go pack and don't be late. This client is an important one and one we can't afford to offend." She swiveled around to glare at Naruto. "You hear that?"

"Yeah, fine whatever." Naruto flung a folder at her head. "Here's your file."

"Good. Now get going!" Tsunade screamed at them. It was already 12:27.

---

Team 7 made it to the front gates of Konoha at exactly 1:02 pm. Each of them was panting, except for Kakashi who was flipping a page in his book.

"You're late!" A voice cried out in accusation. Team 7 looked up incredulously to see a woman scowling at them.

"Who the hell are you?" Naruto huffed out.

"I am the one you're guarding, you brat." The heavily tattooed young woman hit him over the head with a paper fan.

"Well excuse me!" Naruto replied, "Doesn't seem like you need guarding with all those Yakuza tattoos."

A vein over the woman's right eye twitched violently as her pretty features twisted into a sneer.

"They aren't tattoos, idiot, they're Seals." She said tossing long red hair over her shoulder with a huff. "Not that I'd expect stupid brats to understand."

"Seals? Like Fuinjutsu seals?" Naruto suddenly asked her. For the past two weeks he'd been working his way through that first scroll and was only _starting_ to understand it.

"What other kind is there?" The woman asked in the same bewildered tone of voice he'd used, mocking him, while using her fan to once again hit him on the head, Naruto scowled.

"Hey! What are we, invisible?" A rough voice called out from the left. Everyone swung their heads around.

By the gates stood Kiba, Shino, and Hinata along with their sensei, Yuuhi Kurenai.

"What're you all doing here?" Naruto asked.

"The Hokage said this was a dual-team mission, didn't you hear?" Sakura asked him.

"No! She had me too busy running around getting her paperwork." Naruto replied hotly.

"You're still working for the Hokage, Naruto-kun?" Kurenai questioned him kindly.

"Eh, yeah. The old hag is incapable of doing it herself." He rolled his eyes. Suddenly a powerful force hit him in the back of the head, bowling him over.

"Did you forget I was coming down here to wish you good luck?" Tsunade asked through clenched teeth. For the past few months Tsunade always came down to say good bye whenever Naruto left the village, usually sneaking out by leaving a bunshin in her place, except for those rare times Shizune joined her. This proved to be one of those rare times for then Shizune appeared and helped Naruto to his feet.

"Anyways, I would like to thank you for visiting our village and for the new scrolls for our library Sajiki-san." Tsunade turned to the young woman and spoke rather formally.

"No trouble at all Tsu-chan." Atsuko waved off the thanks, "Always a pleasure and yadda yadda yadda the rest of that formal shit."

"Wait, Sajiki? As in _this_ Sajiki?" Naruto stuffed his scroll into her face. She looked at it cross-eyed for a moment before snatching it up and opening it.

"Everything You Need To Know About Seals But Were Too Stupid To Figure Out For Yourself" She intoned. "Hey! This is one of my beginning instruction scrolls for Fuinjutsu." She looked over the scroll at Naruto. "You have an interest in my Art, brat? Perhaps you're not as lame as I'd thought."

"Hey! Did you just call me lame, you crazy woman!?" Naruto cried in outrage.

"Maybe I did brat, what're you gonna do about it." She whapped him again with her paper fan, not that the fan could hurt anyone.

"Naruto, SHUT UP!" Tsunade screamed at him. "Sajiki-san-"

"Just call me Atsuko. Or The Great and Awesome Atsuko." Atsuko interrupted.

"…Atsuko-san is a revered guest of Konoha and will be treated with respect, clear?" A small twitch formed at the corner of her eye but no one saw it. Dealing with the red haired woman always made Tsunade want to drink.

"That's right, you gotta respect me, you lame ass twerp." Atsuko leered at him before breaking into maniac cackles.

"…Why the hell should I respect a crazy woman?" Naruto glared at her.

"Kid, I like you. You're fun. I can tell the next couple of days are gonna be a crap-load of interesting." Atsuko said snagging Naruto around the neck and proceeding to walk off towards the gate. She stuck a hand up in farewell. "See you later, Tsu-chan, Zune-chan!"

The others glanced a Tsunade in confusion.

"Go. Just don't kill her no matter how irritating she is." Tsunade sighed into her hand.

She was gonna need a lot of booze tonight.

---

Two hours later, Atsuko was detailing the many exploits of her life to a largely uninterested Naruto while the others walked behind them, trying desperately to tune her out. Atsuko had yet to even acknowledge their presence.

"And then the Kumo leader, what's his face, the Raikage, he tells me if I don't figure out some way to split up the seal of that Jinchuuriki girl of their's—their's being Kumo—and divide the power among several of their top ninja or whatever, he'd have me executed. So I tell him to shove it up his ass and that I can't split the seal, even if I am freakin' fantastic, without setting the stupid Nibi whatever free-" Atsuko had not noticed, or had pretended to not notice, Kakashi wasn't sure which, Naruto's or his or Kurenai's discomfort at the current topic.

Naruto was really wishing she'd shut the hell up about Jinchuuriki and demons already. To be perfectly honest, he knew that he wasn't as careful with his secret as he should be and he was really starting to fear the day Sakura and Sasuke finally figured it out. He still remembered clearly the talk he'd had with Kakashi only a couple of months ago on the same topic.

Flashback: Cause I can!

He had cracked his knee cap when he'd landed wrong on a rock after trying to embed his knee into Sasuke's stomach. He couldn't stop the cry of pain and was soon sitting on the ground surrounded by his team.

"What happened?" Sakura asked, already performing the diagnostic jutsu.

"I think I broke my knee cap." Naruto told her, grimacing in pain.

"You did. I don't know how to heal something like this yet. Healing bones doesn't come until three weeks from now."

"It's fine, don't worry." He turned to look at Kakashi. "Can you help me to my apartment Kakashi-sensei?"

Kakashi nodded and right as he was about to scoop his student into his arms to carry him home, Sakura held her hand out to stop him.

"You should go to the hospital." She frowned at him. Really, wasn't that just common sense?

The truth was that Naruto hated hospitals and he didn't see the point. His knee wasn't bad, it would be fine with rest, the fox saw to that. It seemed that the more he used his chakra the faster the fox would heal him. When he was young he only healed about three times as fast as a normal person, now almost everything was healed within a few hours or a day. Useful, but suspicious in the eyes of his friends.

"Um, no that's okay. I don't really like hospitals." Naruto told her.

"But-" Sakura began only to be cut off by Kakashi.

"It's fine. I'll ask the Hokage or Shizune-san to come see him." Kakashi told her with a smile.

"Oh, okay then." She accepted but could not hide her frown before she turned away.

At his apartment Kakashi set him down on his couch. Already, Naruto could feel the swelling in his knee begin to slowly vanish.

"When are you going to tell them, Naruto?" Kakashi had asked him. Naruto looked up in confusion.

"About the Kyuubi." He helped.

"Never." Naruto answered simply. Kakashi frowned at that.

"They're your teammates; they deserve to know the truth." Kakashi implored him. "You won't be able to hide it forever. They already know you're hiding _something_."

"You just don't get it. They'll hate me!" Naruto yelled at his teacher, suddenly furious.

"I don't hate you. Jiraiya-sama, Tsunade-sama, and Shizune-san don't hate you!" Kakashi reasoned.

"You're different." Naruto mumbled sullenly.

"Why?"

"You just are."

After that, Naruto refused to speak on the subject and Kakashi had left, but not before telling him that keeping secrets from his team might tear them apart.

---

Sakura noticed Naruto looking uncomfortable. At first she thought it was because Atsuko still had an arm slung around his neck even as they walked. It wasn't as ridiculous looking as it sounded either; Atsuko was only a few inches taller than Naruto. She was a small woman. But after a while, Sakura thought, maybe, it had to do with the current conversation. Kurenai and Kakashi didn't seem so excited about it either. So Sakura quickly resolved to do something about it.

"Um, Sajiki-san-" Sakura was cut off when Atsuko whirled around.

"Who're you?" She squinted at Sakura as though seeing her for the first time.

"Um, I'm one of your guards, Haruno Sakura, Naruto's teammate." She said.

"…Who the hell is Naruto?" Atsuko asked, bewildered. Everyone looked at her in astonishment.

"What do you mean!? He's the guy you've been hanging onto the past two hours!" Kiba yelled out what everyone was thinking.

"Oh. So your name is Naruto? Heh, nice name. Maelstrom, right?" Atsuko commented.

"Yeah. I'm Uzumaki Naruto." Naruto told her, hand twitching only a little in desire to hit her.

"Oh well. I guess the rest of you should introduce yourselves too." Atsuko said. "I must have forgot. That tends to happen once I start talking about myself." She threw her head back to laugh. Everyone gaped at her, except Naruto, who had figured she'd be something like this from her writing.

After everyone had gone around and introduced themselves, Atsuko nodded. "Well, I guess that means it's my turn." Suddenly she flung her arms out. "I am the great, amazing, fantastic, awesome, fabulous, and a host of other such synonyms, Sajiki Atsuko, or Sajiki no Sen Fuin. I imagine you are suitably impressed." She didn't wait for an answer. "Anyways I am considered a Fuinjutsu master." She told them.

"Fuinjutsu is quite hard to master." Kurenai said mildly as they began walking again.

"Yes well, it is an Art, and like all Artists I never believe myself to have quite mastered enough." She replied with a shrug. "The fact is, Fuinjustu is really only limited by the mind of the user."

"Oh, like Genjutsu." Kurenai said brightly with a smile.

"No. Genjustu, please, it's just paltry tricks of the feeble minded to be played on the feeble minded." Atsuko scoffed.

"Oh really?" Kurenai's voice had become wooden and her smile brittle.

"Fuinjutsu is the highest skill out there. Taijutsu, Genjutsu, Ninjutsu, even Medic-jutsu just cannot compare, and, as such, become useless to one such as I." The tattooed woman said arrogantly. "That's why I've never bothered to learn them."

"You can't do any of them?" Sasuke asked her in his controlled polite tone, although really he and everyone else wanted to yell at her for calling their various skills useless.

"That's right. I couldn't even do the things they taught you at the academy. All I know is Fuinjutsu." Atsuko told him.

"But doesn't that limit you too much?" Sakura asked her.

"No." Atsuko replied shortly.

"It's like Lee." Naruto said. "Remember? He said he couldn't use Chakra so all he can do is Taijutsu."

"This Lee, he's a shinobi?" The arrogant woman asked as she swatted a bush out of her way with her fan.

"Yeah, a really good one." Naruto responded.

"See? He doesn't need anything else. He knows the value in investing all of your time and energy in one field." Atsuko looked back over her shoulder at them. "But then I am not a shinobi."

"Yo-You're not?" Hinata asked her shyly.

"Eh? Speak up, girl. If you have something to say than you should say it proudly. But no, I'm not a shinobi." Atsuko spoke.

"Why not? You are certainly skilled enough to be one." Kurenai said. Even she had heard of the great Fuinjutsu Master.

"Simple. I hate anything and everything pertaining to shinobi." After that they didn't talk again for several hours. (This was a feat on its own, truly.)

---

These hours passed awkwardly.

Hinata studiously avoided, while at the same time snuck glances at, Naruto. Kiba avoided, while intermittently glared at, Sakura. Shino avoided everyone. Naruto avoided Atsuko who did not like being avoided and therefore placed a seal on him that made him unable to talk (the rest of Team 7 desperately wanted to know how to do this.) Sakura avoided Naruto who kept trying to charade things at her. Sasuke avoided Sakura who kept complaining about Naruto. Kurenai avoided Kakashi 'cause he was a pervert and she just hated that. And Kakashi avoided the entire world with his nose stuck in his book. (Sakura was adamant to find out how he never was hit by a stray branch or tripped on a rock.)

An hour before dusk, the strange woman departed from the road into the forest, leaving the rest to follow after her confused.

"We're stopping. I'm not going any further." Atsuko said firmly once they reached a clearing.

"We should really keep going while we have the light." Kakashi countered with a frown.

"Nope, uhn uh, nothing doing." She shook her head. "We are stopping. My feet hurt, I'm hungry, and I'm paying you so you have to do what I say."

She was right.

Damn it.

Later, after camp had been set up and the sun had set, they were all sitting around the fire eating.

Sakura hesitated slightly before the asked the question that had been on everyone's mind.

"Why do you hate shinobi?"

Atsuko set down her fork and looked at Sakura carefully. "Lots of reasons, girlie, some good ones, some selfish ones, some that don't make much sense at all, but they are my reasons, and I don't have to tell you." She returned back to her plate of carefully heated foodstuffs.

"I'm sorry…" Sakura apologized.

"Don't worry about it. Curiosity is a sign of an intelligent being." Atsuko waved her fork around lazily while reciting the (no doubt) quote.

"Oh." They all sat in silence for a while before Sakura thought of another question. No longer afraid to ask she blurted it out. "What're you going to Suna for?"

"The resident Fuinjutsu expert there asked me to come." Atsuko replied. "Usually I get called on to check out Seals placed on Jinchuuriki often, but Suna never has, in fact that bastard, the old Kazekage threatened me if I dared to step foot in Suna. Now that he's dead they want me to come in and make sure the Seal is as tight as possible. Fact is, from what I've heard, it probably isn't." She frowned deeply.

"What do you mean?" Kakashi asked her.

"Wait! You mentioned those before, Jin-whatever, just what are they?" Kiba interrupted.

"Jinchuuriki: human sacrifices that contain within them the spirit of a demon. They live as barriers holding the fierce power at bay, but they do not gain nothing out of the exchange. They often have strange abilities that do not seem natural." Atsuko told him. "As for your question Cyclops-kun, I heard rumors that the Shukaku, the beast imprisoned within this boy, can talk to him."

"Is that odd?" Naruto asked. He had actually talked to the Kyuubi several times.

"Not if you're dying." Atsuko quipped. "Most Jinchuuriki can speak with their demons when under great physical or mental stress, however I heard Shukaku speaks to the boy almost constantly. Not to mention the poor boy can't sleep, from what I hear."

"He can't. Shukaku eats his mind and personality if Gaara sleeps." Naruto told her tonelessly.

"So his name is Gaara? Hmm. Well, Shukaku is mad and he likes to make others mad too, but if the Seal restraining him were strong enough, it likely wouldn't happen. Still, I probably couldn't do anything for him." Atsuko shrugged.

"Why not?" Hinata asked desperately trying not to stutter and succeeding, much to her happiness.

"To truly fix the seal I'd have to take it off." Atsuko explained.

"Why can't you just do that?" Kiba asked her with a frown. "You're supposed to be like the best, right?"

"I AM the best, dog-boy." Atsuko sneered. "You—Naruto—you tell him why I can't take the seal off."

Naruto froze a little at being put on the spot, but seeing everyone waiting he began to answer. "If you take the seal off, the demon escapes and the person will die." He said quietly.

"That's right. I could maybe put another seal over it, but it really just depends on what type of seal it is and the will of the boy." Atsuko took another bite, finishing off her meal. "Well, I'm off to bed, good night, make sure no wild animals get me."

---

A few hours later, Naruto was sitting at the fire, poking it idly with a stick, waiting for his watch to be over. A blushing, stammering, stumbling Hinata had woken him just a little while before and after making sure she wasn't catching a fever, Naruto had set up to endure his shift.

He heard some movement behind him and whipped his head around to see Atsuko crawling out of her tent. Once out, she stood and walked over to Naruto joining, him at the fire.

"Yo." She said shortly.

"Hello." Naruto greeted. "Is something wrong?"

"Nah, just thought we should talk in private some." She snatched the stick from him and stood again. "One sec." He watched her blankly as she traced strange patterns into the dirt around him and her. Laying the stick down, she stepped into the circle and began a long string of hand signs. She mumbled a few words he couldn't hear and placed her hands to the design she'd drawn. A small trail of light flashed through the lines of the pattern and Atsuko nodded with pleasure.

"What did you do?" Naruto asked her.

"Made sure no sound could leave the area of the circle, also means that no sound can get in."

"Why?" Naruto asked again.

"I don't want anyone to hear us, duh." She looked at him funny. "I'd gathered that the others don't know that you are a Jinchuuriki."

"How did you-" He got cut off by a loud scoff from Atsuko.

"Today I may look twenty but I'm not, I'm 32, close to being 33. I was already considered a master of my Art by the time you were born and had the demon sealed in you."

Naruto didn't look convinced.

"I suppose I should show you then? Fine." She lifted up the sleeve on her shirt and showed him her left forearm. Amid strange markings that Naruto figured were seals, was the number 32 written in neat kanji. "Fuinjutsu: Sa-Ti-Ni Men; KAI! Fuinjutsu: Zero-Zero Men" She had preformed three swift signs with her right hand before the kanji for thirty-two faded away into double zeros. Naruto's eyes widened as her appearance faded into something else as well.

Long red hair grew a foot longer and darkened to black, brown eyes became a pale green, and tan skin paled considerably. Atsuko became taller, thinner, and gaunt. The bones in her face changed and deep bags appeared under her eyes. Atsuko looked old, sick, and very tired.

"See. This is what I really am. A tired woman who's become old before her time." She sighed as she looked into the fire. "But that's not important, you're important. You know how I said I've been to see almost every Jinchuuriki in existence? Well you're no different. You were two months old the first time I saw you. You were an ugly little baby. I know everyone says babies are cute, but they're not. Tiny little bodies, gigantic heads, and they cry, all the time!" She smiled at him. "You didn't cry much, though."

"What did you do to me?" Naruto asked her, ignoring the jab about him being ugly.

"Nothing. There was nothing to do." Atsuko looked back to the fire. "The Yondaime… it's too bad he died, that seal on you is amazing, but then, that's the _reason_ he died. Often times the seals are too weak and I have to put a number of restrictive and enhancement seals over top the demon sealing seal. With you, I didn't." She reached out and tweaked his nose. "You were such a happy little baby, ugly as hell, but happy, and that made you kinda cute."

Naruto looked at her funny.

"Well, I'm not here to tell you how cute you were as a diaper filler." Atsuko took a deep breath and seemed to be considering something. "Have you ever heard of the Akatsuki?"

"…No." Naruto shook his head at her, confused.

"Good. Means they haven't targeted you yet." She ran a hand (Naruto noticed that the once long gold fingernails were now short and plain) through her hair. "The Akatsuki is a super secret hush-hush organization made up of A and S-rank missing nin whose goal is to release the Bijuu."

"Realease the Bi…" Naruto trailed off looking at her in shock. "ARE THEY INSANE!?"

"Probably." Atsuko glibly agreed. "I'm not sure what they want to do, but I know they want to gather up all the Bijuu, meaning people like you—Jinchuuriki—are in serious danger."

"How do you know all this if it's such a big secret?" Naruto questioned the woman.

"They approached me once. Asked me to join. It was maybe six or so months ago." Atsuko frowned into the fire, trying to remember.

"Why would they want you to join?"

"I don't know! What could an organization bent of releasing demon's from the seals they are imprisoned in possibly want from me, a Fuinjutsu master?" The sarcasm was thick in her voice as she looked at him with overly wide eyes.

"Oh. Right."

"I turned them down though. They weren't happy and the one sent to approach me attacked. I just barely managed to get away. Like I said, I'm not a shinobi. So with this crazy ex-Iwa guy attacking me I very nearly died." She looked a Naruto with a frightened expression and held a hand to her heart. "I was so very frightened." Her voice was once again mocking and sarcastic.

"I don't know much about the individual members of the organization. I only met one of them. Some freak that looked like a girl and had tongues sticking out of his hands. Urrrr." Atsuko shuddered. "Gross. Ick." She gained control of herself again. "Anyways, he could do weird things with clay. Make it explode and stuff."

"But all you know is about that one?" Naruto asked her. "How many are there?"

"Dunno… Could be as few as four or as many as twenty. I don't think it could be more than that, though. Be hard for them to hide." Atsuko looked at Naruto. "You might want to ask Ero-kun when he comes back to your village."

"Ero-kun… You mean Ero-sennin? I mean Jiraiya?" Naruto asked her.

"Yes, that's right. I thought Tsu-chan said something about him tracking some sort of organization, I don't know if it is the Akatsuki though."

They sat in silence for a while, both thinking about something.

"Naruto… If they catch you, if they find you and fight you and you think you're gonna lose… you have to kill yourself before they can extract the Kyuubi." Atsuko said with dead seriousness thick in her voice and body language.

"What?" He looked at her with shock written across his features.

"You're gonna die either way. A human can't survive the demon being drawn out, but if you kill yourself you take the demon with you the Akatsuki can't achieve their goal." Atsuko explained.

"If that's the case why don't you just kill me now?" Right after he said it he wanted to hit himself. Why had he just said that? Atsuko smiled at him.

"Tell me Naruto…do you have a dream?"

"Uh, yeah. I'm gonna be Hokage one day." Now Naruto was looking at her funny.

"Then become Hokage." Atsuko smiled at him again but it was a different sort of smile, soft and warm. "Death is only the last resort." She stood up and stretched, joints popping badly and muscles moving in an unattractive way under too-thin skin. "I'm going back to bed; you make sure nothing creepy gets me in the night." She formed the hand signs to cancel her seal and then scuffed the markings out with her toes.

Right before she actually left the light of the fire though, she turned back and frowned at him.

"You're going to have to tell them soon." she said.

"Tell who what?" Naruto tilted his head to the side in confusion.

"Pink-chan and Stoic-kun. Your teammates." She waited while Naruto finished giggling over what she called Sasuke. "Akatsuki will be coming after you. If your teammates know, they can help you."

Naruto sobered quickly. "I can't tell them. They'd hate me."

"Kid, I've learned a lot about humans in my 32 years on this mud ball. Humans are weak and cowardly little things that can't get over hurt and pain, but humans are also stubborn and generally good and their opinions don't change that fast. Typically, that works against you I guess, but right now, have you given your friends any reason to fear or doubt you?" Naruto shook his head. "Well there you go then."

With that, Atsuko shuffled her way back to her tent and Naruto turned back around to his fire. He looked up at the stars. Soon it would be time to wake up Kiba. Until then, Naruto sat in the dark and quiet woods thinking about everything that had transpired in the past few minutes.

He had too many questions and too few answers though to really resolve anything.

---

As he crawled out of his tent the next day, Naruto was met with the strange sight of seeing Atsuko, back in her disguise, doing enthusiastic stretches.

"One, two, one, two. Come on Stoic-kun, join me!" She bent her torso to the right and smiled at a scowling Sasuke.

"No." Sasuke told her through gritted teeth. Atsuko turned away from him.

"Then you Bug-kun. One, two, one, come on don't leave me hanging here!" Atsuko said to Shino.

"…" Shino didn't reply, merely staring at her.

"Ah, you shinobi, you're all too serious." Atsuko gave up her stretches and moved over to Kakashi. "Hey Cyclops-kun, when're we leaving?"

"When ever you're ready, you're paying remember?" Kakashi flipped a few pages in his book.

"Eh? Who told you that? I'm not paying you guys." Atsuko tilted her head and Kakashi looked up in surprise.

"What? But yesterday you said…" Everyone else was looking at her too.

"Eh, I did? Well I'm not paying you, Tsu-chan is. She said that the least Konoha could do was take me to the border. She'd had another team all ready but somehow they all got food poisoning from some rancid barbeque stand so you guys got drawn in. Anyways, I wanted to go on my own but Tsu-chan insisted." Atsuko shook her head. "As if I couldn't handle it if some random idiots decided they wanted to die at my hands."

"…Right." Kakashi sighed. "But you're still the one we're escorting. You make the decisions."

"Well then, let's go! I want to get to Suna sometime this year!" She hit him on the shoulder with her paper fan and suddenly Kakashi understood far to well why the Hokage had told them not to kill her.

"Fine. Everyone pack up. You can eat on the trail." The ire in his voice was unmistakable but no one but Naruto noticed the smirk on Atsuko's face.

Atsuko noticed him watching her and sent him a wink.

---

Once on the road, Atsuko had again slung her arm over Naruto's shoulders and dragged him off to the head of the group to talk, but now she was talking about seals.

"Okay, the first taboo, it's really not that complicated." She was saying to an oddly focused Naruto. "Basically, when I say a sacrifice—that can be anything from the time and chakra it takes to perform to blood to your own life—something has to be given and it depends on the type of seal what it is. Now, as you saw last night for the Kinmuchiteate Fugen, the Area Allowance Silence Seal, all I had to do was inscribe it in the dirt and infuse it with my chakra. The sacrifice for that seal was the time and space used to draw it and the chakra used to power it. Now, some lower rank—D and C, mostly—seals can require a bit of blood, but you'll never see anything but an S-rank seal require a life."

"Can you use any life or does it have to be yours?" Naruto asked her before being nearly pulled off his feet when Atsuko suddenly stopped walking, causing the ones around her to stop as well.

"Why would you ask me something like that Naru-kun?" She asked in a dangerous tone of voice.

"Er, I was just curious." All of Naruto's instincts were telling him to run.

"I see…" Suddenly the paper fan was out and she hit Naruto in the face with it, instead of making a light _phunf_ sound as it usually did, it hit him with a clonk and sent him flying into a tree on the other side of the road.

"Hey! What the hell did you do that for you crazy bitch?!" Kiba yelled at her as everyone looked on in shock.

"SHUT UP!" She screamed at him before stalking over to Naruto. Naruto noticed that the fan had red markings on its folds. She stood before him, radiating anger. "You must never, ever use someone else's life in your seals. To do so makes a mockery of the Art! There is neither glory nor honor to do so. Only _your own_ life should be given."

"But you can, right? You could use someone else life." Naruto said.

"Whose life is it that you would give before your own?" Atsuko leveled him with a nasty look. Naruto just stared blankly. "I thought so. But still try to never do so. I have created 7 seals that use a life as a component, they remain untested and they will never _be_ tested if I have anything to say about it. Remember, death is only the last resort." She put the fan back up her sleeve where it had come from, the red Seals fading as she did so. "Come along now, let's discuss the second taboo." She ushered Naruto back under her arm and began walking off again; gaining incredulous looks from the other shinobi who followed along reluctantly.

"The second taboo: no seal can exert a greater force than the force invested in it…" she started.

Sakura watched the exchange in shock. The woman really was crazy! How could she go from being furious one second to acting like a teacher the next?

How strange.

Sasuke felt his curiosity piqued. He'd thought this Atsuko lady was nothing more than a psycho who sat around and wrote books all day, but she'd just turned a harmless paper fan into a formidable weapon and sent Naruto flying with it. She was stronger than she appeared.

Kakashi and Kurenai both sighed in relief. They'd thought that Atsuko was going to attack their students in her fury and both knew that they would sooner kill the Fuinjutsu master than let their students be harmed. Kakashi put his kunai back in the proper pouch and Kurenai dropped the genjutsu she'd half started performing.

Team 8 exchanged nervous glances but hurried after the rest, all of them were on alert for the rest of the day, however.

---

Just before sunset, they made it to the border of Suna. Atsuko had quickly spied the three chunin meant to escort her through Suna.

"Yo! There you three are!" She shouted in accusation even though they'd obviously been waiting for some time for her to appear.

One of the chunin walked up to Kakashi and bowed slightly.

"Thank you for escorting Sajiki-sama out here." The Suna kunoichi said.

"Pft, makes it sound like I couldn't have crawled here on my own." Atsuko mumbled. "Come on, let's go!" She shouted out loud as she began walking off, before she made it ten feet however, she stopped and turned.

"Oy! Lame-ass brat!" She called.

"Who the hell are you calling lame, you old bitch!?" Naruto screamed in reply.

A vein appeared in Atsuko's cheek as she stalked back to Naruto's location. She took out her fan and hit him on top of his head, inordinately pleased when he flinched badly.

"Who you calling old bitch, you stupid moron?" She said. "And here I was gonna give you a nice, shiny present."

"Oo, what is it?" Naruto asked her jumping up and down on the balls of his feet, already forgetting their argument.

"You are one weird little kid…" Atsuko said with a smirk. "Anyways, here." She fished a scroll out of the small bag she carried with her. "It's got some of my best work. Everything from a couple of D-ranks to some A and S-ranks. I suggest you don't try those out till you get through my advanced instruction scrolls though. You might turn yourself inside-out."

"That's what Ero-sennin said." Naruto mumbled incoherently even as he nodded in agreement.

"Yeah well, it could happen." Atsuko shrugged. "I'll be seeing you. Don't worry, I'll tell the Gaara kid what I told you, you just remember that you can't hide forever." She looked at him sadly. "Sooner or later, the truth always comes out." She bonked him lightly once more with her fan and then walked off, snapping at the Suna nin to keep up.

---

The Konoha nin made it back to the village two days later. Once there, they set off for Tsunade's office as usual.

Before Naruto could get out his customary greeting, Tsunade threw scrolls at them from her agitated position standing by the filing cabinets.

"Thank Kami-sama you're back! We have a huge emergency!" Tsunade cried.

"Our team never made it to Iwa."

---

**OMAKE!**

**Cooking Lessons Part 1 - The Grocery**

It was just a coincidence that Team 7 had met up. Sunday was their day off unless they had a mission, and it just so happened that they all chose to spend it shopping.

First Sakura, who was with her civilian parents, had run into Kakashi at the grocery store.

"Kakashi-sensei! Why are you here?" she asked as her parents hovered in the background.

"I'm grocery shopping Sakura." He indicated the basket on his arm filled with fruits and vegetables. "Are these your parents?" He'd never met them before.

"Oh, right!" Sakura gestured her parents forward. "Kaa-san, Tou-san, this is my Jounin instructor, Hatake Kakashi. Kakashi-sensei, these are my parents: Haruno Jun and Haruno Himewari." Her parents bowed to the Jounin and he returned the greeting.

"Kakashi-sensei? Sakura? What're you doing here?" The two turned to see Sasuke also holding a basket of groceries.

"Oh! Sasuke-kun, what a surprise!" Sakura smiled at him as Kakashi nodded hello. "I'm shopping with my parents." She repeated the introduction.

"Oi! What is this, some sort of gathering?" Naruto had suddenly appeared from around an aisle, Tsunade at his side.

"Naruto, Tsunade-sama." Sakura, Kakashi, and Sasuke all performed a small bow for the Hokage followed quickly by Sakura's parents who had not recognized the Hokage at first. Again introductions were repeated.

"Nice to meet you." Naruto smiled at them, Sakura's parents returned it a little coldly.

"I wasn't aware that you were on my daughter's team." Haruno Jun had said.

"So what?" Sakura said. Why were her parents acting so odd?

"Nothing." Himewari had said smoothly.

"Anyways, are you shopping too Naruto?" Kakashi asked to change the subject away from the always-awkward topic.

"Yeah and Tsunade-baa-chan decided to join me." Naruto leant in and in a pseudo-whisper said. "I think she's just skipping out on work again.

"Why you little…" She snagged Naruto and began to give him a noogie. "Noogie-style: Revenge for the Working Woman!"

"Ow! That name doesn't even make sense!" Naruto called.

"Ignore them." Sakura advised her parents. "They're always like this. It's just how they show affection."

"Affection…" Himewari muttered as she watched the display.

"Any-who, I'm here to make sure the twerp gets something besides ramen." Tsunade frowned down at the other blonde. "You don't eat properly."

"That's 'cause I can't cook." Naruto told her.

"Well then you should get Shizune to teach you." Tsunade told him. "I'd teach you, but I can't cook either."

"I could teach you some Naruto." Sakura volunteered.

"Really? Awesome!" Naruto cheered. "How about next Sunday? Unless we have a mission?" He looked to Kakashi.

"I don't plan on us going on a mission." Kakashi told him with a smile. "Perhaps Sasuke should join you. Do you know how to cook Sasuke-kun?"

"…No." Sasuke replied with only minimal hesitation.

"Then you should join us!" Sakura smiled brightly.

"Kakashi-sensei you should come too. I bet you hardly know how to cook as well." Sasuke smirked at him.

Kakashi sweated a little. Seems his plan to embarrass Sasuke had backfired. Indeed, he hadn't an inkling of how to cook. Mostly he just ate boiled vegetables and raw fruit.

"Yes! It would be team bonding!" Sakura cried. All of his students turned to look at him expectantly.

"…Fine." He conceded. "I better finish my shopping now." He walked off wondering if he could possibly arrange to take a mission after all. No, Tsunade-sama would be on to him.

"I better go too." Sakura said. "See you all."

With that they all disbanded.

Part 2 Coming Soon (if you review).

**---**

**Author's Note Reprise: **God Snicky is amazing. You wouldn't believe how fast she got this back to me. Less than twelve hours. Actually I think it was around six hours. Wow! Anyways for the people that were dissapointed that Team 7 didn't go to the exams I hope you're happy now. I told you I had my reasons. Also I finally managed to bring in the Akatsuki. We still won't see much of them but at least you can tell I'm going somewhere with it. I hope you like Atsuko, I am inordinately fond of her, she's mean, arrogant, sarcastic, bitter, and self-centered. My best friend would tell you she's just like me but I'm telling you she's just like my best friend (Yes, Natasha I'm talking about you, you bitch.) Anyways if you don't like her, tough, she will be back. This story isn't about her though, don't worry, she's strictly a plot device. I tried not to make her too mary-sue-ish, cause mary-sues suck. She has a number of weaknesses and she's just plain isn't a nice person.

Anyways I know nothing about Iwa, so I'm about to be making up a ton of stuff, whee!

Next chapter will not be out soon. Like at least a week and a half. I have to go back to Uni, plus the pain pills make it hard to see my keyboard, or maybe that's my sleeping pills. I don't think the two mix well at any rate.

**Snicky's Note! **My. I died by the end of this. But oh, not from the content. But the length! ToT Alright, but seriously people, a show of hands! How many actually _expected_ that surprise ending? That's right. Nunya. See here children? _This_ is how being random pays off in the future: by completely torturing your dedicated readers! NEW RULE: everyone must wish Miss Zessei good health, and that she will be back to tip toppety shape soon! 

**Fuinjutsu Notes:** Cause there are like NO Fuinjutsu out there.

Fuinjustu: Kinmuchiteate Fugen (Seal style: Area Allowance Silence) - This seal works as an area effect seal. It cause sounds inside the seal to be unheard outside the seal and outside sounds to be unheard inside. It's a C-rank seal.

Fuinjutsu: Sa-Ti-Ni Men (Seal style: Mask Thirty Two) / Fuinjutsu: Zero-Zero Men (Seal style: Mask Zero) - Note: Zero (ZEY-ROH) is the actual way to say 0 in Japanese. Atsuko has created 40 Men seals that are layered over each other on her arm. To change appearance she ends the one she's currently using and activates another simultaneously. Due to the complexity of the layering it's classified as a B-rank when more than one are used but a D-rank when only one is used, one is never used though because at least one seal (00 usually) must be a return to the normal appearance.

Both of these seals were created by Atsuko.

**PREVIEW:**

"Welcome to Iwa, Kakashi-san. These must be your students?" A tall Iwa jounin was the first to greet them as they set foot in Iwa's walls.

"Yes. They are Haruno Sakura, Uchiha Sasuke, and Uzumaki Naruto. We need to see the Tsuchikage as soon as possible, if you don't mind." Kakashi answered him stiffly.

"Of course, of course, it's such terrible business, is it not?" The man replied with a smile.

**REVIEW OR I'LL EAT YOU! RAWGH! 55+ Reviews Gets An OMAKE!**


	13. Chapter 13

**An Alternative Path **

**Author's note: **Lucky chapter 13, hot off the presses for your enjoyment. God I always manage to sound like an idiot when I write these things xD I'm glad you all like Atsuko. You can tell I'm from the south cause I just said you all. I'm currently debating doing a side story to AAP that has her back story. This story comes first though. I'm also glad you all (again with the you all!) like my omakes. I love my omakes. REVIEW JUST SO I CAN WRITE MORE OMAKES!!! They will probably later be collected into a separate collection. Apparently I replaced being too obvious with being too vague and some of you got the wrong idea for this chapter. Oh well. You shouldn't assume things. You know what that say about when you assume things.

Also: **I got ****103**** Reviews last chapter! Wow! That's freaking amazing! Thank you!**

**IMPORTANT: **This story is AU. That means ALTERNATE UNIVERSE. That means I can do whatever the hell I want and you have to suck it up and deal.

**Pairings: **Jeez, some of you people are serious about your pairings. I've even gotten some P.M.s about it. I wish to reiterate, FRIENDSHIP is the strongest influence in my manga. The romance will typically be the 'squint hard to find it' kind.

**BTW: **I don't own Naruto! I do however now own Sajiki Atsuko. You can borrow her if you give me credit.

**Journey to Iwa; The Political Battlefield**

"Thank Kami-sama you're back! We have a huge emergency!" Tsunade cried.

"Our team never made it to Iwa."

"What do you mean they never made it to Iwa?" Kurenai asked her, shocked and confused.

"They should have been there a week and a half ago!" Kakashi commented.

"Yes, but they're not. Iwa claims our team never got there." Tsunade moved to her desk and started shuffling papers around randomly in her anxiety. "I'm not sure why they have only now sent us a message. They claim they thought we'd merely backed out, even though I sent them a message saying to expect our team." Tsunade sighed deeply and ran a hand through her already disheveled hair. "This is a political nightmare!"

"What do you mean, Tsunade-sama?" Sakura asked her.

"Because of the last war our standing with Iwa is about as precarious as, say, Jiraiya's standing with the Konoha Women's League." She waited as everyone snickered, and couldn't help the small smile on her own face before she schooled her features back into a serious expression. "To put it simple, Iwa hates our guts but is too wary of us to attack. However, we cannot afford to antagonize them either; we're still suffering from the Suna-Oto invasion."

"So sending one of our teams to Iwa was meant to be a show of good faith?" Sasuke said as the idea dawned on him.

"Yes. They sent a team to us in the last exams and so we sent a team to them, but our team never made it there." Tsunade told him with a sigh.

"So now they can say we were being rude?" Kiba asked. "They think we just didn't send one and lied, saying we did?"

"That's right. It may seem stupid, but when people are just itching for war you can't even sneeze on someone without it leading to a full scale battle." Tsunade shook her head in exasperation. "Fact is some of the people—okay most of the people—in Konoha think Iwa killed our team to incite war with us, and they may be right. I'm being pressured to declare war with Iwa right now, but that is the last thing I want to do." Her fist came down hard on the table and she had to scramble to keep a stack of paper work from falling over.

"So what are you going to do?" Kurenai asked her.

"I've sent several teams to investigate the area between Konoha and Iwa, with permission from Iwa to be in Earth Country of course. It's not enough though. Someone has to go to Iwa to smooth ruffled feathers." Tsunade looked at them intently. "Roughly seventy percent of our shinobi are on missions, we desperately need money in Konoha so I can't afford to deny any mission request. I have several teams currently searching for the lost Genin team, Kurenai, you and your team will join them, although several Inuzuka, Hyuuga, and Aburame shinobi are already looking we need everyone when can get out there. I wish to send Shizune to Iwa, as an ambassador of good will or something like that, but I need someone to go with her. Iwa would never accept a team of Jounin or even Chunin. That leaves a Genin team." Tsunade's eyes swung first to Kakashi and then down to Naruto. "All of our Genin teams are currently on missions, searching for the other team, or laid up in the hospital. Team 7, you are the only ones available."

"Wait! Tsunade-sama you can't honestly expect me and Naruto to be able to get out of there unscathed!" Kakashi gaped at her.

"What do you mean, Kakashi-sensei?" Naruto looked at him funny. What would Iwa want with him? Kakashi ignored him.

"After the part I played in the war and the fact that my sensei was the Fourth?!" Kakashi nearly shouted. "In Iwa, boys with blonde hair and blue eyes are typically killed not long after birth, you _know_ that! Naruto looks just like Yondaime, and he's from Konoha. Iwa will be all over him!"

"Then why were you willing to send your team to the exams!" Tsunade yelled, angry at Kakashi, Iwa, herself, and the entire situation.

"That was different! I honestly didn't think Iwa would do anything to incite war, at least nothing outside the exams, and I was sure my team could handle other genin teams. Now though, if they did get rid of that team they sure as hell won't mind getting rid of another, and if they didn't they might feel it doesn't matter anymore to keep the peace!" Kakashi had moved by this point to stand right in front of Tsunade, practically screaming in her face.

"YOU THINK I DON'T KNOW THAT!?" Tsunade stood swiftly and slammed her hands on the desk, causing papers to flutter and fall all over the place. "YOU THINK I WANT TO SEND YOU THERE!?"

"Then why not send Kurenai's team? We can help with the search." Kakashi was trying desperately to look composed, but inside he was just hoping Tsunade wouldn't hit him.

"Your team is not equiped for search and rescue missions, you know that! Your team was designed to be on the front lines of war, as such you are the most capable to be in Iwa incase things go south." Tsunade absentmindedly began gathering up the fallen papers, not even looking at them before placing them in stacks. Naruto quickly hurried forward to take them from her, not wanting to have to sort through them later, as would probably be the case. "Kurenai's team is adept for searching or scouting, they serve the most use looking for the missing team. Right now we are operating on the assumption that our team is alive and Iwa had nothing to do with this whole ordeal. The sooner we find out what happened to our team, the better."

After a hesitant moment, Sakura spoke up, "Kakashi-sensei, what does she mean our team was designed to be on the front lines of war?" Kakashi flinched just a little, but Sasuke noticed it.

"Team 7 is a Heavy Combat squad. Teams are designed to serve one purpose or another. If you work well enough together you'll stay together even after you make Chunin. If not, you'll be split up." Kakashi told her without much infliction.

"Yes. Kurenai's time is a Search and Rescue squad. Asuma's team is a Tactical/Interrogation squad. Gai's team—you've worked with them right?—Gai's team is used primarily as an Escort/Defense squad although they can also serve as a Heavy Combat squad when the need arises." Tsunade explained.

"So, if there is a war…" Sasuke's question trailed off.

"In the event of a war you'll be sent out first, to decimate as much as the opposing forces as you can before the other squads are sent out." Tsunade told them sadly, "Although, typically, Genin teams are the last to be sent out. Our Genin are our future, after all."

"So we're trained to be cannon fodder?" Sasuke said angrily, clenching a fist by his side.

"Of course not. You're trained to protect Konoha." Kakashi said—though it didn't sound very convincing—while everyone else was looking at Tsunade for an answer.

"No, you're trained as our most effective weapons in war." Tsunade told him.

"Tsunade-sama!" Kakashi whirled around. "I'm not--" He was cut off shortly.

"I know. You've stopped training them in accordance with the typical guidelines of a Heavy Combat team." Tsunade narrowed her eyes. "I never said anything, as they are all growing fine, but just what are you training them as? You're clearly trying to make them a great team, but what kind?"

Kakashi shifted a little under her gaze, surprising his Genin who had never seen him fidget before. They'd never seen him raise his voice either, but he'd done that as well, to the Hokage no less!

"I'm training them as a Free Response Team." Kakashi told her eventually.

"Do you really think they can become one?" Tsunade's eyes had widened in surprise.

"Yes. I have no doubt as to their potential." Kakashi said with steely confidence.

"I agree with you." Tsunade nodded at him. "Naruto, go get me the file on your team." She waved an arm at Naruto who, mumbling, did as he was told.

"Let's see… cross out Heavy Combat…" She mumbled a few other things as she wrote in the file. "…where did a put that stupid stamp?" Tsunade shuffled through her drawers before coming up with a small stamp that she tapped into a pot of ink before slamming it on a page of the file, blowing gently to dry it.

"…Kakashi-sensei." Sakura asked as Tsunade was working. "What's a Free Response team?"

"Hmm, Free Response teams are supposed to be able to sufficiently handle any situation they come up against. The idea is that they can be a search team, a scout team, a guard team, a tactical team, a heavy combat team, an infiltration team, a heavy defense team, or whatever is needed of them. Generally, they aren't as good as a team who specializes in one field, but they're good enough to be used in a pinch. Free Response teams are very rare because they don't usually last beyond the Genin years. The members rarely have enough teamwork to make it." He smiled at his team. "I don't think that will be a problem with you guys."

"As great as this all is, we need to get back to the freakin' emergency at hand." Tsunade sighed as she rubbed her temples, the temporary distraction not enough to soothe her raging headache.

"Sorry, Hokage-sama." Kakashi bowed his head briefly.

"It's fine, it's fine." She waved a hand in the air lazily before she let it fall heavily with a sigh. "Look, I know it isn't ideal, but this is all I can come up with. I really don't think Iwa will do anything. They seem hesitant to actually start anything. I think that has something to do with the new Tsuchikage."

"It's not like we have a choice right? You said Shizune was going?" _At least they'd have a good medic-nin_, Kakashi thought.

"No. You really don't." Tsunade fiddled with the pen in her hand. "Yes, Shizune will be going with you. She'll be doing most of the talking, you all will be her, well, we can't really call you a guard, more like an entourage." She stopped to accept the stack of papers Naruto had finally finished gathering from the floor. "I heard that you're training Sasuke in diplomacy?" Tsunade asked.

"…Not exactly. He just kinda deals with civilians for us." Kakashi grinned unable to keep up the serious air.

"That's because the rest are incapable." Sasuke muttered darkly from beside Sakura. Sakura and Naruto both shot him amused looks.

"…Well, maybe you should think about training him in diplomacy." Tsunade sighed. "This will be good for all of them regardless. It's important to remember that our lives as shinobi are more than going from one battle to the next."

---

They were given six hours to rest and gather their equipment before they had to leave. It was the first time that Team 7 had ever done back-to-back missions outside of Konoha. It was also the first time Team 7 had been given above a C-rank mission officially.

Team 7 had met up at the gates exactly five hours and 57 minutes after being dismissed from Tsunade's office. Except Naruto, that is.

"Where the hell is he?" Sakura asked head moving side to side to look for him. She was very nervous about this mission and didn't want anything to screw it up, including tardy teammates.

"I don't know. It's not like him to be late." Kakashi answered her.

"I think he's with Tsunade-sama still." Shizune said from her position next to Sasuke. "I know that Tsunade-sama went over to his apartment about an hour ago."

Well at least they couldn't be blamed if it was Tsunade's fault, they all thought, although then again, Tsunade might just blame them anyway.

After five minutes, Sakura noticed two blondes walking towards them.

"Hey! They're here!" She called to her teammates before looking over at the tardy ones again. "Wait a minute. Something's off…"

Suddenly Shizune let out a squeal before throwing herself at Naruto to hug him. "You got rid of the orange!" She cried with her arms around him.

"Why do people keep doing that!?" Naruto yelled as he attempted to shove Shizune off him. Tsunade had done the same exact thing an hour ago when he'd opened his door to find her on his stoop.

"What happened?" Sakura asked her mouth hanging agape.

Naruto was not wearing the orange jumpsuit he'd been in earlier that day; he'd changed into simple black sweat pants and an orange-red t-shirt with a black jacket over it. The jacket was really the only item of quality. It was made of a durable fabric, had tons of pockets and was customized with the Uzumaki red swirl at both shoulders.

"Is it that hard to believe that I might have wanted to wear something different?" Naruto asked as Shizune released him.

He was immediately answered with a resounding 'Yes.' from all those present.

"Jeez. If you must know, I need to do laundry." Naruto scowled.

"I didn't even think you owned anything but those suits…" Sakura commented.

"No, I own some other stuff. People always seem to give me clothes as gifts for some reason." Naruto told her.

'Oh really?' Everyone thought. Quite sarcastically, I might add.

While Sakura was talking to Naruto, Shizune leaned over to whisper to Tsunade.

"You're going to burn those things, right?" She murmured.

"Of course. They'll be gone by the time he gets back." Tsunade murmured back.

"We should have thought of it earlier." Shizune replied before turning back to the conversation the others were having.

"So, the pants and shirt came from Iruka and the jacket…" Naruto trailed off as he began thinking. "The jacket came from the Old Man, it was the last thing he gave me before---" Naruto cut off but looked at the sleeve of his jacket as though he were seeing it for the first time.

"Well you should all get going." Tsunade said suddenly to break them from the unwanted thoughts that had come creeping up. "I want you to get to Iwa as soon as possible."

"Right." Kakashi said.

"Shizune's in charge, and for god's sake, _listen_ to her. If things go badly, get out of there." Tsunade lectured.

"Right." Kakashi repeated.

"Don't insult anyone. If they offer you something accept it and thank them. Use your manners. No talking about the war, Yondaime, or anything else remotely offensive." Tsunade began ticking the points off on her fingers, mutterings of 'Right.' coming from Kakashi every few points. "Do not let yourself be coerced into drinking. Do not show off in front of their shinobi. Do not let yourself be coerced into sparing with any of their shinobi." The lecture continued for several minutes.

"BAA-CHAN!" Naruto cried to get her attention. "We get it. We shut up, listen well and keep our heads down."

"Er, yeah, basically." Tsunade looked at Naruto with wide eyes. Then Naruto found himself a foot of the ground, the air being choked out of him by a suspiciously bright-eyed Tsunade. "Please, please just be careful." She dropped him back on the ground and then lifted his Hitai-ate up off his forehead. Leaning forward she placed a kiss on his forehead. "For luck." She said as she replaced the symbol of Konoha back on his brow.

"Naruto." Kakashi called to pull his attention away from Tsunade. "How long can you keep a Henge up?"

"Er… I'm not sure. Probably…" Naruto tilted his head as he considered it. "What kind of Henge? Am I doing like, a full body thing? Internal organs? Height? Weight? Voice? Do I make it solid? Or is it just my hair or something?"

"…Just hair and eye color. Can you really Henge your internal organs?" Kakashi asked, rather surprised.

Naruto shrugged lazily. "Sure. You can do just about anything with a Henge as long as you know what you want to do, can visualize it, and pour enough chakra into it."

"Really? If you Henge your internal organs when one was damaged--" Tsunade began to ask him.

"Hokage-sama, maybe you should try figuring it all out when we get back?" Kakashi suggested before she could begin a long discussion on the medical aspects of Henge. "Naruto, how long do you think you'd be able to keep up a Henge if it was just hair and eye color?"

"Just that? Probably weeks, maybe months." Basic Henge's like that, they didn't even need to be solid, used very little chakra to put up and even less to maintain. Naruto frowned in thought. "But…I'm not sure it would stay up if I were asleep or anything."

"MONTHS! That's impossible!" Sakura shouted in shock.

"Sakura, you forget, this is Naruto." Kakashi smiled at her briefly. "Can you think of any way to keep it up in your sleep?"

"Damn. I wish I could do that crazy old bitch's Men Seal." Naruto muttered as he ran a hand through his hair. "If I made it solid, and put a lot of chakra into it, the Henge might have enough power to last even after I fall asleep."

"How long could you keep it up if you did that?" Tsunade asked him this time, having caught on to Kakashi's idea that he should hide his hair and eyes from those in Iwa.

"I don't know." Naruto frowned. "Chakra comes back over time so…" Naruto rubbed his head as he tried to figure it out. "Well… I could probably keep it up for a couple of weeks before chakra exhaustion got me." Naruto closed his eyes in thought. "It would run my chakra down a little faster than I could build it back up so eventually it would get me."

"Okay. Well, if worse comes to worse we'll use soldiers pills to boost your chakra." Kakashi sighed, soldier pills were damned expensive. "Go ahead and Henge now. We don't want anyone in Iwa to notice that something changed. Who knows if they have spies out there."

"Right!" Naruto clasped his hands together in the proper shape and cried out. "Henge!" A small puff of smoke later and a brown-haired, green-eyed Naruto appeared. "This okay?"

"That's fine." Kakashi nodded at him.

"The people in Iwa are expecting you. Or at least, they're expecting Shizune and a Genin team." Tsunade told them. "I just sent a hawk with a message, so there should be no problems there." She turned to Shizune. "You know what you need to do right?"

"Yes, Tsunade-sama." Shizune nodded at her.

"Right, just, well, be careful, all of you." With that Tsunade briefly hugged Naruto and Shizune and nodded at Kakashi, Sasuke, and Sakura before they all dashed out Konoha's gates.

"Please, please be careful." Tsunade spoke to the air before she walked back to her office to get the reports from the search team.

---

Running, Sakura thought, was exhilarating. There was just something about finding that perfect pace and watching the world blur by as you blew past.

Running for four hours with only a ten minute water break, however, was not so exhilarating.

By this point, Sakura could only just keep the rest of her team and Shizune in her sights. Despite her training the past few months, Sakura just didn't have the stamina to keep up. Chakra might have kept her legs from collapsing from underneath her, but nothing but pure strength of will kept her going as her lungs burned in her chest.

Luckily, right as Sakura thought she couldn't take a step more, Kakashi called for a halt.

"Alright team, short break." Kakashi said as Sakura walked stiffly up to the rest, hand to her side and breathing laboriously. "Remember, don't drink too much water or you might throw it up later." Everyone nodded at him

Sakura quickly fell to the ground, legs folding up beneath her, eyes closed, head back, and chest heaving in order to pass more oxygen through her sore muscles. She didn't acknowledge it when two masses sat on either side of her.

"I" –huff- "freaking" –huff- "hate" –huff- "this." She eventually managed to get out. Naruto and Sasuke made small noises of agreement from beside her. She opened her eyes again and looked to her right.

Sasuke looked just a little better than she felt. He was clearly panting as much as she even as he stretched out his legs to keep them from cramping. A red flush had crept up his neck but his face was deathly pale.

She swung her gaze to Naruto and developed a twitch in her jaw muscle. Naruto looked perfectly fine! Wait, no he didn't. He wasn't breathing hard like Sasuke or her, but his eyes were strangely dilated. Sakura recalled that adrenaline could cause the dilation of the pupils.

Groaning, Sakura stretched her legs out and began stretching them as Sasuke was.

"You should stretch too." She told Naruto while in the process of one excruciating butterfly stretch.

"Sure." Naruto mumbled to her before beginning his own half-hearted set of stretches.

After rinsing her mouth with water and swallowing a bit more, Sakura started to perform hand seals, catching the attention of the other ninja.

"Iryouton: Itami Hajimari Ayatsuru!" Afterwards Sakura swept her hands along her legs, sighing a little as the jutsu took effect.

"Of course! I should have thought of that!" Shizune cried to the confusion of the boys present before she swiftly performed the exact same jutsu on herself.

"What did you just do?" Naruto asked.

"The Itami Hajimari Ayatsuru is a little bit like the Chintsuuzai, the painkiller jutsu, but instead of temporarily deadening the nerve endings in the damaged area, which makes it hard to feel or control that body part, the Itami Hajimari Ayatsuru, the Pain Threshold Manipulation technique, simply stops pain signals from getting through the nervous system while still allowing other sorts of signals, pressure, temperature, and the signals that cause our limbs to move like we want them to get through." Shizune told him with a smile as she flexed her now pain free legs.

"Oh." Naruto replied with a rather blank expression. "Just what does all that mean?"

"Never mind, it doesn't matter." Sakura sighed as she shook her head. To give him credit, though, it was rather difficult to understand. "You want me to do it for you guys?" She asked.

"I'm fine." Both Naruto and Kakashi spoke as one before turning to look at each other in mild amusement.

"I'd like it if you don't mind." Sasuke told her.

"Sure thing!" She smiled at him before going through the seals one more time.

Ten minutes later Kakashi told them it was time to go again so they all got back up and began running again.

Sakura vowed to start working on her endurance more. All this running was killing her!

---

Sixteen hours of running later, interspaced with five ten minute breaks and one 5 hour break to eat and rest, found them two miles from Iwa's walls.

"Alright team, and Shizune, we're about two miles from Iwa." Kakashi had stopped next to a giant boulder.

Earth Country, it had turned out, was a wasteland. Not a desert like Wind, just a wasteland. Large craggy rocks jutted out from dry, dusty earth. Mountains and ravines stood everywhere, old gnarled trees clinging to them with a tenacity that came from nowhere. It only rained once a year in Earth Country, but it did so for an entire month. But from looking at this landscape, no one could ever tell.

None of them had enjoyed running over the rocky surface of Earth Country. Small pebbles slipped and slid together under the soles of their sandals causing many near-falls. At one point Naruto's leg had collapsed out from beneath him causing him to cry out in pain and surprise. When asked if he was okay though he'd merely waved it off and began running again, forcing the others to keep up.

"Listen." Kakashi continued. "Remember everything the Hokage said. Be on your best behavior. I assume you were taught manners, or at least I assume Sakura and Sasuke were taught manners, so use them. Naruto you copy what they do." This earned an indignant 'Hey!' from Naruto. "Shizune is in charge so if she tells you to do something, do it." While Kakashi had tacitly been given leadership on the way there, Shizune was the one who was really in the lead.

"Don't worry. I'm sure things will be fine." Shizune then told them calmly.

With that they began to trek to the famed Gate of Iwa, a massive stone structure four stories tall connected to a sprawling wall two stories high that served as the only entrance and exit for the village.

After being stopped at the gate and having their papers authorizing their entry into Iwa squinted at by two highly suspicious and surly guards they were allowed to step through the imposing gates.

"Welcome to Iwa, Kakashi-san. These must be your students?" A tall Iwa jounin was the first to greet them as they set foot in Iwa's walls.

"Yes. They are Haruno Sakura, Uchiha Sasuke, and Uzumaki Naruto. We need to see the Tsuchikage as soon as possible, if you don't mind." Kakashi answered him stiffly.

"Of course, of course, it is such terrible business, is it not?" The man replied with a smile.

"Yes, just awful. I'm Shizune, the Hokage's aide and apprentice." She bowed low to him, the others belatedly following her example.

With a smirk the Iwa-nin returned the bow. "My name is Kimura. I'll be acting as your guide during your stay."

"It's nice to meet you. Please, regard us kindly." Shizune told him.

"Yes." The smirk stayed on his face as he regarded the ones in front of him. "Shall we head to the Tsuchikage's compound?"

"Yes, thank you Kimura-san." Shizune replied with a nod.

As they moved through the village, Kimura kept up a running dialogue about the history of Iwa and about the village's landmarks. They all nodded and made small noises of interest as their eyes memorized the roads and buildings.

Where most of the buildings in Konoha were wooden and plaster with concrete foundations, the buildings in Iwa were made of stone and carved from stone ground. While Konoha's buildings rose tall, the highest building in Iwa stood only three floors. Iwa as a whole though, was more spread out, and horse or donkey drawn carriages were far more common than in Konoha.

The Tsuchikage's compound turned out to be a sprawling three story building located, according to Kimura, in the exact center of Iwa. The Tsuchikage's office was located on the third floor in the northernmost corner.

Once in the compound they were led to a small waiting area. The chairs were welcome but each felt that what they most wanted was to take a shower and go to bed. They resented the fact that they were being made to wait after what had obviously been a difficult journey. They couldn't say anything however, and even their facial expressions had to be kept carefully neutral. You never knew what someone would take offense at.

After a nerve-wracking thirty minute wait they were ushered into the inner sanctum of the Tsuchikage.

They were all a little surprised when they came face to face with the Tsuchikage. Yamamoto Yuuka, as she introduced herself, was a tiny woman with laughing golden eyes and thick, wavy brown hair. The woman barely reached four feet eleven inches and her arms and legs were slender. Her facial features were fragile looking and her skin was flawless. She looked maybe twenty five or thirty, but it was hard to tell.

Kakashi wondered at first if her appearance was a genjutsu, like Tsunade's. This little girl just did not seem able to lift a kunai much less be a Kage!

"There is no way this girl could be a Kage." The Konoha-nin jumped a little at the light tingling voice of Rock's leader. "That's what you were thinking, right? Well, let me assure you, I am supremely capable."

Kakashi stopped doubting her. The way she carried herself and the way she spoke clearly betrayed the power of her. This woman was a steel rod wrapped in silk.

"I am Yamamoto Yuuka. The Godaime Tsuchikage. It's a pleasure to meet you." Yuuka bowed her head. The others all bowed at the waist in response.

"Tsuchikage-sama, I am Shizune, the ambassador from Konoha." Shizune spoke. "These people are my companions, Hatake Kakashi and his three students, Haruno Sakura, Uchiha Sasuke, and Uzumaki Naruto."

"Like I said, a pleasure. Please, you can just call me Yuuka, or Yamamoto if you prefer." Yuuka smiled at them briefly.

"Thank you Yamamoto-sama." Shizune bowed her head once in acknowledgement.

"No, it's nothing." The Tsuchikage waved the matter away with a delicate hand. "Why don't we start discussing why you are here? You'll find that I don't like to beat around the bush much. I'm a very straightforward person. Konoha's genin team has failed to appear. We don't know where they are. You say you don't know where they are. No one knows what happened. And I have half a council breathing down my neck to start a war. Now, just how are we going to rectify this situation?"

---

**OMAKE: Cooking Lessons Pt. 2 - Sakura's Pain**

Somehow they ended up at Naruto's apartment for the first lesson. Sakura had no idea how this happened as anyone else's place would have been undeniably better. Naruto's kitchen is tiny and his equipment sucks. Luckily, Sakura thought to bring a few pots and pans from home.

"Alright, we're going to start with something simple, an omelet." Sakura told her three students.

Naruto was practically bouncing in his excitement to learn something (anything, it didn't matter, he wasn't picky), Sasuke was looking incredibly bored even as he glanced around Naruto's apartment in obvious curiosity, and Kakashi had already taken out his dirty little book and had begun to read.

"WOULD YOU ALL PLEASE PAY ATTENTION!" Sakura snapped at them, nearly snapping the wooden spoon in her hand as well.

Sasuke and Naruto instantly turned to face her with serious, if slightly wary, expressions. Kakashi unrepentantly put his book back in his pocket.

"Thank you." Sakura sighed. "You know, we are all taking time out of our day off for this so you should all take it seriously."

"Right, Sakura-sensei." Naruto saluted her and Sakura couldn't help the small smile that tugged at her lips.

"Okay, let's begin." Sakura turned to the stove. "First thing you do is set the pan to medium-high, placing a little butter in it so the omelet doesn't stick." Suddenly she was aware of three figures looming (as much as they could in the case of Naruto and Sasuke) over her shoulders. It was highly uncomfortable. She turned a little to face them. "What are you doing?"

The two younger boys looked at each other in confusion as Kakashi smiled at her.

"Learning to cook." Kakashi answered.

"You're too close, I can't work." Sakura told them.

"But we can't see!" Naruto whined.

"I assume you all know how to turn a stove on, you don't need to see that!" Sakura snapped again. She was incredibly pleased when they all slinked back a couple of steps. Sakura quickly finished setting up the stove and the pan before moving to Naruto's rickety dining table.

On the table were the ingredients she'd brought over to teach them with, correctly assuming that Naruto would have nothing.

"Okay, when mixing the ingredients you need to remember what goes well together and what does not." She began her lecture. The next several minutes was spent outlining what tasted good when added to what and what didn't. She then picked out several things for the omelet. "Omelets start with eggs, typically two to three eggs make one omelet for one person, if you're not eating anything else with it, if you are then one egg per person, got it?"

They all nodded at her.

"Good. So I break three eggs into this bowl, don't get any shell in!" She expertly cracked open the eggs. "Add just a little sugar into it." She dumped three teaspoons of sugar in. "Or a lot, you know, whatever. Next you add some dashi soup mix. If you want you can add soy sauce, but I don't really like that." She then showed them how to mix it then pour it into the pan. "You want to spread it thinly over the bottom of the pan, but not all of it at once. Then once that is cooked you roll it to the bottom of the pan and add some more mix, keep doing that until it's all gone." She showed them what to do and in minutes produced a fluffy omelet.

"Okay, now you guys try." Sakura said.

Three hours later all of her supplies were gone, four fires had been put out, two pans were ruined, and Sakura wasn't quite sure that spot was ever going to come out of Naruto's wall. The only thing they had to show for it was seventeen inedible omelets.

"I give up!" Sakura cried, throwing her hands up in defeat.

"No! I still really wanna learn to cook!" Naruto looked at her pleadingly. "Please, we were getting better towards the end, right?"

Sakura had to admit that they hadn't set in fires the last hour.

"I just don't understand why you all find this so hard!" Sakura sighed into her hands as she dropped her face into them.

"…Maybe we just need more practice?" Sasuke suggested blandly.

"Fine! We'll try again next week, but next time we aren't doing it here. This place is way too small!" With that, Sakura quickly gathered up her things and stomped to the door. "Next Sunday by at my house at Ten, that means you too Sensei, I'll try to teach you something else." She flung herself through the doorway, slamming the door behind her.

"Well, I think that first lesson went pretty well." Kakashi commented as a picture frame crashed down from Naruto's wall.

Review and see part 3!

---

**Author's Note Reprise: **I'm excited to say that I was not completely responsible for the lateness of this chapter. Part of it was Snicky's fault. This makes me feel incredibly good about myself.

I'm gonna tell you right now, rectify is my favorite word in the English language. Rectify means to set something right or fix a situation, but the meaning isn't why I love it. To rectify something just sounds like it has to be painful for someone, even though the definition doesn't say so. I use that word whenever possible.

This chapter probably seemed slow didn't it? Well several important things did happen, it's just some of them won't seem important until later. The next chapter is set entirely in Iwa, I'm basically making a bunch of shit up for it, I'm excited. Yamamoto Yuuka is another OC, as is Kimura. Kimura isn't that important though. In fact he's so unimportant that I can't be bothered to give him a first name. His only personality trait is being snide. Yuuka however is fairly important, but I'll save her awesomeness for next chapter.

Yamamoto Yuuka's name means Superiority (or Gentility) of the Mountain's Origin. I thought it suited a Tsuchikage. In related note: Kimura is the 18th most common last name in Japan (Yamamoto is 7th) and Sajiki Atsuko is actually named after my Japanese sensei. Sajiki-sensei rocks, but she is nothing like Atsuko. I just like the name. (incidentally the name Sajiki has several dozen meanings and is fairly uncommon whereas Atsuko comes from Atsu- Rule/Administration, and Ko- a suffix on girl names meaning child, roughly the name means Ruling Child and is neither common nor uncommon.)

**Snicky's Note! **:Takes sage-like thinking pose:: Hmm…me thinks that there was much foreshadowing in this chapter. Me thinks if you weren't paying attention to this chapter you should go back and skim it once more. Hm hm, very wise choice, that would be…

On a slightly saner note, I am terribly sorry if this seemed later than usual. Part of that would be my fault. Schoolwork and all that _good_ stuff. Always just keeps you so _full_ of energy and time!

**Biology Notes (With just a touch of Psychology):** You can tell your mom you were doing something educational.

I realized some of the things I was talking about might be confusing so Ta Da! I'm going to attempt to remember things from my AP Psych, AP Bio, and AP Human Anatomy classes to explain it to you. Since it's been about a year and lord knows I have the attention span of a gnat I'm not sure I can actually recall it all, but I will try.

Running- I wonder how many of you know what happens to your body when you run. Humans are actually pretty efficient running machines. We can run for long periods of times, unlike many animals who can run faster than us but only in short bursts. As we run our leg muscles produce lactic acid, oxygen takes this away but running builds it up faster than oxygen can get rid of this is why we breath hard. As it is an acid it feels painful on our muscles.

Pupil Dilation- The pupil (black part) of your eyes dilates or contracts depending mostly on light, dilates when it's dark contracts when it's bright. However there are other circumstances when cases the pupil to dilate. Many drugs can cause it as well as naturally produced body chemicals. Adrenaline causes the eye to dilate so that we can see better. Running for long periods can build up adrenaline.

Pain Threshold and Gate Theory- I'm not even sure if that's the right name but it's something like that. The idea of the Threshold basically says that people can ignore pain to a certain point whereas Gate Theory says that if you activate nerves somewhere else from the place of pain the pain lessons, i.e. clenching your fists when pulling out a splinter, because your nerves are doing other things. It's basically a psychology theory that says that pain signals are felt by a different part of our nerves from other signals, this is why people with congenital insensitivity to pain with anhidrosis, a disease which makes people unable to feel pain, can still feel pressure and texture and mild temperatures (but not extreme ones).

**Jutsu Notes:**

Iryouton: Itami Hajimari Ayatsuru (Medic Skill: Pain Threshold Manipulation) - This B-Rank Skill blocks pain from traveling through nerve receptors while not stopping other sensations and allowing a full range of movement. While fairly simple to perform it's dangerous and marked as a B-rank due to the user being unable to feel when they're in danger, not even the deepest wounds or broken bones would be felt. Typically it's used when a person needs to fight despite their pain or to take away the pain when someone is dying.

Iryouton: Chintsuuzai (Medic Skill: Pain Killer) - This D-rank skill is one of the first a medic-nin learns. It completely deadens the area affected meaning pain, pressure, and temperature cannot be felt in that area, it also slows done reaction times in that area.

**PREVIEW:**

"Are you sure you won't be convinced, Hatake-san?" The tiny Tsuchikage tilted her head in inquiry. "After all we weren't able to see the Konoha team in action due to their unfortunate disappearance. I'm sure everyone here in Iwa would be delighted to see what your team can do. As your students I just bet they are fairly impressive."

The smile she gave him spread slowly over her features and reminded him somewhat of a lion stalking its prey.

**REVIEW OR I'LL EAT YOU! RAWGH! 55 Reviews Gets An OMAKE!**

**Also: I have a new NaruSaku oneshot out. Go read it!**


	14. Chapter 14

**An Alternative Path **

**Author's note: **This chapter didn't take nearly so long did it? But that's because I was super motivated to write it xD Thank you so much for all the wonderful reviews. I would estimate that I manage to respond to at least 75 percent of them. This chapter, and most of my chapters, is mostly dialogue. I mean there is _a lot _of dialogue. But that's how I tell stories, through dialogue. Still, this one seems like a lot more dialogue than usual. I'll try to cut back in the future.

It was fun to see what you thought of Yuuka. I'll say this much for this chapter, most of you will change your mind about her several times before this little arc is over.

**IMPORTANT: **This story is AU. That means ALTERNATE UNIVERSE. That means I can do whatever the hell I want and you have to suck it up and deal.

**BTW: **I don't own Naruto! I do however own Sajiki Atsuko and now Yamamoto Yuuka (and I guess Kimura but who the hell cares about him?). You can borrow them if you give me credit.

**Iwa, The Tsuchikage, and Taijutsu**

"No, it's nothing." The Tsuchikage waved the matter away with a delicate hand. "Why don't we start discussing why you are here. You'll find that I don't like to beat around the bush much. I'm a very straightforward person. Konoha's Genin team has failed to appear. _We_ don't know where they are. You say _you_ don't know where they are. No one knows just what happened. And I have half a council breathing down my neck to start a war. Now, just how are we going to rectify this situation?"

The Konoha-nin immediately stiffened. Did the Tsuchikage want a war? And if so, would they soon become the first casualties of it?

"Relax." The woman said. She waved her hand at a row of chairs in front of her massive desk, chairs the Konoha-nin had never thought to sit in. "Sit."

And they did so—Shizune in the center, Kakashi and Sakura to her left, Naruto and Sasuke to her right.

"I don't want a war. The citizens do not want a war. Many of my shinobi do not want a war." The Tsuchikage told them. "But, some of them do. Mostly the old ones, though. The ones who gave the best days of their lives to that old war. The younger ones though… It is a war fourteen years old, the younger ones don't even remember." She smiled at them. A nasty little smirk that sent shivers down their spines. "Of course, just because they do not remember doesn't mean they don't itch for war."

"Tsuchikage-sama, Konoha does not want war either-" Shizune began before a chuckle from Yuuka cut her off.

"No. I suppose they don't." Another smirk, another shiver. "You are hurting, yes? From the invasion during the last Chuunin exams?"

They all sat stiffly and silently.

"I suppose I should not expect you to answer that." Yuuka said with a shrug. "Look, to be perfectly honest, I don't care what Konoha wants. I only let you come here because, frankly, there is nothing you can do to hurt us." Yuuka leaned forward, her elbows on the desk and her fingers laced beneath her chin. "I don't know what happened to your team. I'm positive Iwa had nothing to do with it. I'm pretty sure you had nothing to do with it, either. And I bet they aren't even alive to tell us the tale."

"You believe them to be dead?" Shizune asked calmly.

"Honestly, I think you do, too." Yuuka replied with a small frown.

"…We are treating the matter as though they were simply missing." Shizune said evenly.

"Hmm, I'm sure you are." She leaned back in her chair. "I'm also sure you really don't expect to find them alive, though."

"I don't see how this line of conversation is helpful, Tsuchikage-sama." Shizune's hand rose to rub at her temple before she thought better of it and clasped it in her lap instead. She mustn't show any weakness to this woman.

"Yuuka, or Yamamoto." She smiled at them sardonically. "Tsuchikage-sama was the name of a man I could not stand."

"Beg your pardon?" Shizune asked, surprised at the sudden statement.

"It's not great secret that I did not like the Yondaime Tsuchikage, and that he did not like me." Yuuka told them. "I was loyal to him, of course, but you can be loyal to someone without liking them."

"Um, of course…" Shizune was at a loss at how to reply to something like that.

"Don't concern yourself with it. That man is dead and I'm Tsuchikage now. The past is irrelevant, merely a distraction, today is all that matters." Yuuka waved the topic away. "We still have much to discuss, but you are tired, and frankly, I have too much freaking paperwork to worry about this now." The small woman sighed over her paperwork woes. "I never knew becoming Tsuchikage would involve so much paperwork." She murmured lowly, but the others still heard it. Naruto couldn't help the snort of laughter he gave. He tried to muffle it but the Tsuchikage's eyes had already swung to him. "What are you laughing at, Uzumaki, was it?"

Kakashi groaned just a little. Of course Naruto would somehow insult the woman!

"Sorry, it's just… The Ol- er, the Sandaime used to complain about the paperwork all the time and all Ba- er, the Godaime does is complain about the paperwork. I think the workload is the same for all Kages." Naruto told her.

"Really?" The woman blinked at him. "Huh… I guess it's the council's way to make a Kage's life hell." Yuuka tilted her head at that thought. "Despite that, you shouldn't laugh at your betters, boy." She said in a serious voice.

"I apologize for my student. He was an orphan and I haven't yet managed to beat some manners into him." Kakashi told her as he glared at Naruto.

"Huh? No, I was only joking." Yuuka shook her head slightly. "I mean, I guess the paperwork can seem pretty funny, if you aren't the one stuck doing it, that is."

"Thank you, Yamamoto-sama." Kakashi bowed his head at her.

"Well, I've arranged Kimura to take you to an inn for the night. I went ahead and booked three rooms, each with two beds. Tomorrow, Kimura will bring you back here to talk more." Yuuka told them before making a gesture at the door. It swung open to reveal Kimura waiting for them. "I wish you a good night."

It was clearly a dismissal and they all left after murmuring various good-byes to the Tsuchikage.

---

Later, they all sat in Kakashi's room to discuss what their next course of action was.

"I can't believe I didn't recognize her immediately." Kakashi commented out of nowhere as Shizune was outlining their duties for the next day.

"What?" Shizune asked him absentmindedly.

"The Tsuchikage." Kakashi stated. "I can't believe I forgot who she was at first."

"What are you talking about, Kakashi-sensei?" Sakura asked in confusion.

"Yamamoto Yuuka was one of the fiercest generals of Iwa fourteen years ago at the time of the war." Kakashi frowned trying to remember. "They called her The Fist of Iwa."

"What's a general?" Naruto asked, unfamiliar with the term.

"It's a bit like being a squad leader or a captain except instead of leading five or so people, you're leading hundreds. It's a term not really used except in war." Shizune explained to him patiently.

"Some say Yamamoto was the best general they had. Hundreds of Konoha shinobi died at her hands and yet she was the general you would most want to face out there." For a moment Kakashi had a distant look in his eye, as though he had suddenly found himself in a different place.

"What do you mean?" Sasuke asked, snapping Kakashi from his sudden daze.

"It's said that she was merciful." Kakashi explained. "Yamamoto Yuuka, her name means superiority of the mountain's origin, but it can also mean gentility of the mountain's origin. Both names suit her. Yamamoto Yuuka never went after retreating shinobi, never tortured people just for the heck of it, always treated prisoners of war well, and rarely killed any shinobi under the age of fourteen. Those under her command did the same, or else suffered her swift displeasure, I'm told. I remember only going up against her troops once."

"What was it like?" Sakura asked him.

"Her troops were different from other Iwa-nin. They were more organized, helped each other more. They didn't go after kills so much as just trying to disable as many of us as possible. Yamamoto herself fought against the Yondaime." Kakashi said, the others hanging on his words.

"She did? Who won?" Naruto asked leaning forward.

"The Yondaime won, but it was close. Yamamoto is a master at Taijutsu, better I think than Gai." He paused as they all gasped. "Somehow, the Yondaime managed to shatter her right elbow, he never told us how. She pulled back after that and we lost her, but most of her troops had been decimated. Two weeks later, we managed to trap her. I remember the Yondaime saying something about her elbow still not being healed by then, that it hadn't even been properly set, but that she still fought with it as though nothing were wrong. She fights with a complete disregard to herself. Anyways, we kept her for awhile but then Iwa offered a prisoner trade, twelve of our Jounin for her. Konoha complied. Not long after that though, the war was over."

"And now she's the Tsuchikage." Shizune remarked, slightly awed.

"Yes." Kakashi's brow furrowed. "I wonder if she ever got her elbow fixed? I think the Konoha medics had said it was too late to heal it properly."

"What does it matter?" Naruto asked.

"It would be a great weakness if it were never healed." Kakashi told him.

"Surely she would plan for that though?" Shizune replied.

"Of course. Not that it matters, I don't plan on going up against a Kage anytime soon." Kakashi said lightly.

"Wait… If she was a general in the war, just how old is she?" Sakura asked.

"Don't know… probably thirty-five or forty?" Kakashi said scratching is chin.

"FORTY!?" was chorused around the room.

---

The next day, Kimura led them back to the Iwa leader's office. They once again shuffled into the room and Yuuka waved distractedly at them to take the chairs.

While Yuuka was hurriedly filling out a form, the others took the chance to observe her closer, looking for signs of the person Kakashi had told them about.

Today her brown hair was pulled into a low ponytail. Large, circular gold earrings hung heavily from her ear to an inch above her shoulder, geometric designs etched into them. She wasn't wearing the Kage robes this day, instead she wore a simple tan tunic with a wide neck line and wide loose sleeves that stopped just past her elbows. A heavy gold necklace adorned her shoulders. The rest of her was hidden by the desk.

"There! Finally!" Yuuka tossed her pen to the desk and looked up at the waiting shinobi. "Well, now that that's out of the way, let's get down to business shall we?"

"Of course, Yamamoto-sama," Shizune bowed her head in deference.

"Good." Yuuka smiled at them briefly. "I've sent out a few of my shinobi out to help in the search for your lost team."

"Thank you." Shizune replied. "Konoha—"

"Wait." Yuuka interrupted. "I'm not doing this to aid you. I just don't trust you. How do I know you even sent that team? For all I know, this is some plot to declare war on us and make it look like our fault. I want my teams out looking just incase that team was sent and something _did_ happen to them. I don't want any of your nin trying to cover up evidence or something."

"Regardless of the reason, we do appreciate it." Shizune tried again.

"Sure, whatever." Yuuka waved the thanks away. "Thank me if you want, but you all should know, if my teams find something out there and they don't like it, you all are hostages. But, I'm sure you knew that already, ne?"

"We understand our duties to Konoha." Shizune said diplomatically.

"Hmph." Yuuka snorted, and oddly indelicate sound to come from her delicate body. "I should hope you do. You are ninja after all, not dirty samurai."

"Yamamoto-sama, I do want to assure you that Konoha in no way is blaming you now for what has happened." Shizune spoke, ignoring Yuuka's previous statement.

"Somehow, I sincerely doubt that, Shizune-san." Yuuka smirked at them. "Fact is, there is little that can be done until the team is found. So, how would you all like a tour of Iwa given by none other than myself?"

"Um, that would be very nice, but really you don't have to go to all that trouble." Shizune demurred.

"Are you kidding? If I can claim I was leading you all around then I can get out of doing this blasted paperwork for a few hours." Yuuka sneered down at the papers on her desk. "I'm not doing this for you. Don't be foolish."

"In that case, we would be honored." Shizune replied smoothly. Ogling at how much she acted like Tsunade when it came to paperwork…

---

"Yamamoto-sama, I like your jewelry." Sakura commented as they headed out of the large building.

"Thank you, Haruno-san." Yuuka smiled a genuine smile at her. "You'll find that the goldsmiths of Iwa are the best around. Gold is one of our greatest exports, as well as iron, copper, and steel."

"Isn't jewelry like that kinda stupid for a shinobi?" Naruto asked while Kakashi groaned into his hand. Naruto just didn't know when to shut up!

"You're wearing a necklace aren't you?" The Tsuchikage smirked referring to the pendent he was given by Tsunade.

"I tuck it into my shirt when fighting, though!" Naruto countered.

"Well, I take my jewelry off when fighting. You are actually correct, though. It would be easy for an enemy to rip my earrings out of my ears or choke me with my own necklace, although oddly enough, only other Kunoichi try this tactic." Yuuka replied lightly while Shizune and Sakura both reached for their ears and the boys shuddered at the ruthlessness of women.

The Tsuchikage began leading them through a maze of streets once they exited the administration building. Everywhere people would stop and greet Yuuka who would always smile, nod her head, and greet them in turn, often by name. The Konoha ninja were often regarded with curious or wary stares, but very few were openly hostile.

"Why don't we visit the Academy first?" Yuuka suggested. "It has been a few days since I have gone to visit the children."

"That's fine, Yamamoto-sama." Shizune answered for the group.

"So, tell me, what are your skills like?" Yuuka said conversationally and as though she didn't much care.

Shizune and Kakashi exchanged looks while Sasuke, Naruto, and Sakura waited for one of them to go first. Eventually Shizune shrugged and began to answer.

"I'm a medic-nin. I've studied mostly under Tsunade-sama." Shizune replied calmly. "I'm afraid I'm not too good at Ninjutsu or Taijutsu but, my Genjutsu is sufficient."

"I'm a Ninjutsu specialist, but my Taijutsu is pretty good as well. I know a few high-level Genjutsu thanks to this eye." Kakashi told her, tapping his covered Sharingan.

"Ah, yes. I remember you now." The Tsuchikage replied. "You were the Yondaime Hokage's little student." She smiled at him teasingly. "You did well in that battle. The only one I ever came up against Namikaze in. I never did get to repay him for what he did to my arm. It's too bad he died, he was a fierce opponent and a good man."

"So you never did get it healed?" Naruto asked her before he could be stopped.

"Naruto! Shut up!" Sakura screamed and hit him in the back of his head.

"No. I never did." She pulled up her sleeve and showed them her elbow. A black circle was placed around the outer part of her elbow with symbols coming off it. A scar ran through the cent of the circle, stretching from two inches above the elbow to two inches below.

"Is that a seal?" Naruto leaned forward to look at it more closely.

"Yes." The little woman replied. "I had to have the joint of my elbow completely removed—a metal contraption put in its place. The metal doesn't move too well, but this seal acts as the joint instead, allowing me a full range of movement. I'm lucky to have it. Although it did cost quite a bit of money. Sajiki-san does not come cheap."

"You mean Sajiki Atsuko?" Naruto asked her as his head snapped back up surprised.

"Oh, you know her?" Yuuka tilted her head to the left to regard Naruto.

"Yeah I know her, unfortunately." Naruto muttered darkly remembering the constantly irritating woman.

"She's a bit eccentric, isn't she?" Yuuka laughed at his expression and tone.

"She's a bit crazy, is more like it." Naruto replied lowly.

"Hmm, but she is a genius. Namikaze basically destroyed my elbow. I couldn't get it properly set and the bones mended badly. I'd been told I'd never be able to use my arm again. I was relieved when Sajiki-san contacted me and claimed she could fix it. I think I was actually her test subject for the seal, but it works, so I don't mind." Yuuka talked lightly as they kept walking. She didn't sound angry or upset over what had happened to her at the hands of their Hokage. "Anyways, what about you three, Haruno-san, Uchiha-san, Uzumaki-san? What are you learning?"

"Sakura is learning to be a medic. Sasuke does close-combat and infiltration. Naruto is close, mid and ranged combat, mostly mid and ranged." Kakashi replied shortly for them.

"I see. Are they learning any Taijutsu?" The Kage asked in interest.

"Sakura is developing her own style based on attacking solely with the legs, Sasuke is learning Five Ancestors, and Naruto has begun Form-Intent Fist." Kakashi told her.

"What?" Yuuka stopped and whirled to face Kakashi. "He is learning Form-Intent Fist? That is a style created, perfected, and widely taught in Iwa. Who could even teach it to him in Konoha?"

Kakashi nearly swore. He forgot that Form-Intent Fist was one of the most exalted styles in Iwa. Teaching it to Naruto would be a serious no-no.

Yuuka frowned darkly. "Of course. You are Sharingan Kakashi. You must have copied it from someone. I also think some scrolls of it were provided when Iwa surrendered. Still, I'm surprised you are teaching it to him. He doesn't have the body type for it." She turned to regard Naruto once more.

"What do you mean?" Naruto asked rudely, apparently unaware of the Tsuchikage's ire.

"You, boy, have no manners at all, do you?" Yuuka asked lightly. "Form-Intent Fist relies on heavy blows and being very close to your opponent. It isn't a very fast style, but it is a solid one. People who use this style are often large and have a heavy muscle mass. You're small—and from the way you move—flexible. It would make more sense to teach you something else. For instance, even though I know the basics of Form-Intent Fist, I'm just not able to effectively use it in combat. I'm small and light and just can't hit hard enough. Both of us, I think, would be knocked flat by a few good hits, and Form-Intent Fist just leaves a person too vulnerable to that."

Even though she said that, Kakashi knew that Yuuka wouldn't go down from a few hits and that she could certainly build up enough power to use the style well. Most likely, these were the reason she didn't learn it when she was first starting out as a genin, and now she didn't use it simply because she'd mastered other things better.

"Oh look. We're here." Yuuka remarked as they came abreast a large, rectangular building that, like all others in Iwa, was made of stone.

At two stories, the school was one of the taller buildings in Iwa. There was only one entrance, but many windows, more than they'd seen elsewhere.

"I had them put the windows in a couple of years ago. Before that, it was as dark as night in there." Yuuka commented as she noticed the direction of their stares. "Glass is expensive and it's hard to import it from Suna, but I wanted the children to be able to enjoy their time spent here. I really do love children." She smiled at them. "Let's go around back. The senior classes should be having Taijutsu practice soon."

The grounds of the academy were like the rest of Iwa, barren and rocky. However as they went around the side of the building they did notice that one area, maybe a hundred square feet, was covered in large trees.

"We put the trees in to give them practice in different terrains." Yuuka explained when Sasuke asked her about them. "The war showed us that we just weren't adept at fighting among the trees. Although, it is quite a pain to cultivate them. They need a lot of care."

Kakashi nodded. He remembered how difficult the Iwa-nin had found running and fighting on the trees. Often times, Konoha would attempt to lure them into the trees for just such reasons.

"I want to add a small pond as well but, that simply isn't going to happen any time soon." Yuuka sighed. "It doesn't rain much here, and water is expensive. I can't very well authorize a pond for academy students while crops are failing. Luckily, we have a pond in another training field that Genin can use."

Kakashi, Shizune, and Sasuke all knew that Yuuka telling them this was almost an insult. She obviously didn't think much of them if she were willing to tell them so much about her ninja and their training.

Suddenly, they heard loud calls from the back of the building. They all saw the Tsuchikage's face light up before she began walking a little faster around the Academy walls.

The back field of the building was large, with many small rings for fighting. Several dozen children just a year or two younger than Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura, and were milling about as about six Chuunin were setting up to start the lesson.

"Hello, everyone!" Yuuka called out as she approached.

The Chuunin all bowed to her in greeting, but the children all gasped and began to wave excitedly.

"Yuuka-sama!" they called to her. A couple of the bolder ones detached themselves from the group and ran up to her.

"Yuuka-sama, are you going to instruct us today?" A boy asked before he noticed the others. "Who're they?"

"These are guests from Konoha, Sano-kun." Yuuka answered him. "I won't be teaching today, but maybe we could get then Konoha-nin to offer a little demonstration of their skills?"

The children, who had all by this point moved to encircle Yuuka despite the Chuunin instructors' attempts to stop them, looked over at the Konoha shinobi curiously.

"Ah, no, I think we'd rather see what the students here can do." Kakashi tried. "I've heard great things about Iwa's Taijutsu training."

"Yes, but they've never seen a foreign shinobi in action." Yuuka countered.

"Erm, I'm afraid you'd be disappointed." Kakashi said as his students glared at him. They knew they weren't supposed to fight, but he didn't have to make it sound like they were no good!

"Are you sure you won't be convinced, Hatake-san?" The tiny Tsuchikage tilted her head in inquiry. "After all, we weren't able to see the Konoha team in action due to their unfortunate disappearance. I'm sure everyone here in Iwa would be delighted to see what your team can do. As _your_ students, I bet they are fairly impressive."

The smile she gave him spread slowly over her features and reminded him somewhat of a lion stalking its prey.

The Tsuchikage then lifted a hand and suddenly five Jounin had appeared at her side, including the smirking Kimura.

"You all would like to see just what Konoha Genin are capable of, would you not?" She asked her Jounin, eyes never leaving Kakashi.

"Yes, Yuuka-sama. It would undoubtedly be enlightening." Kimura answered for them.

"And you children? What do you think? I'm sure it would be educational." Yuuka looked around at the children, many of whom were her height or even taller.

"Yes, Yuuka-sama!" They cheered.

Kakashi groaned. He couldn't see a graceful way out of this. No doubt Yuuka had this planned from the start. She wanted to see what they were capable of and was using the children to get him to say yes.

"You can say no, Hatake-san. Don't agree because you think it would be rude not to or because you don't want to disappoint the students. I assure you, I won't be offended. I'm honestly curious as to what they can do. Konoha had many great shinobi. Losing to them in the war, I honestly didn't feel so bad." She smiled a real smile at them. "The Yondaime Hokage once told me that Konoha was great because its shinobi had the Will of Fire. I wonder—do these children of yours have it, too?"

Kakashi closed his eyes and sent a silent apology to Tsunade. "Very well. I suppose a small demonstration wouldn't hurt, do you agree Shizune, guys?"

His team all nodded.

"Just something short," Shizune cautioned with a sigh. She could understand why Kakashi agreed. Konoha-nin prided themselves on their strong will and Yuuka had basically just dared them into showing it.

"Wonderful." Yuuka went back to smirking, "How about your three students against the top three students here at the academy? I wish for the children here to begin to grasp the difference between them and those that have been ninja for a while, even if they are only Genin. Your students graduated about ten months or so ago, correct?"

"Yes, that's right." Kakashi nodded.

"Hmm. Well, if they are going to fight, you might want to instruct Uzumaki-san to drop the Henge." Yuuka said slyly.

Kakashi jumped a little. Naruto's Henge's were so good that most couldn't even tell that they were there, much less see through them. He noticed absently that the Jounin around Yuuka had jumped as well and were now staring at Naruto as though seeing him for the first time.

"You saw through that?" Kakashi asked her surprised.

"No. It is a remarkable Henge. I've never seen such an excellent one in my life. The boy is truly talented. I can't see through it, but I know it's there. I think I can guess why it's up, too." Yuuka gave him a sardonic look. "After the war, it was very hard for Iwa. We lost so many good people, and so many to one blue-eyed blonde man. The citizens, they just didn't want to be reminded of their pain. Everyone lost someone after all. For years it became common to kill blue-eyed blonde boys. Luckily, we tend to be darker here in Iwa so not many children were lost. Still, even one was one too many." Yuuka frowned. "The Yondaime Tsuchikage saw no reason to halt the practice, and no one was punished for it despite the fact that it was murder. After a while, people began to stop as the pain became more distant, and when I came to power I punished any who dared to do so. I'm afraid the one thing I can't stand is a law breaker. All violent crimes are punished by death here in Iwa. That doesn't matter now, though. The boy will be safe, I give you my word."

The word of a Kage was a powerful thing, Kakashi knew, he nodded at Naruto to drop the Henge.

Naruto swiftly complied and every Iwa ninja present reeled back in shock.

"He looks just like…" One of them started.

"Namikaze." Yuuka finished frowning deeply as she held her once injured elbow in her hand. Yuuka took a couple steps forward until she stood eye to eye with Naruto. "I can see why you had him put the Henge up. The resemblance… it makes me wonder if that man had a son."

Kakashi and Shizune both stiffened quickly as Naruto just looked confused.

"Umm, is something wrong?" Naruto asked.

"Hm? No, nothing is wrong, boy." Yuuka's eyes narrowed. "I am, however, expecting great things from you. The last blue-eyed blonde ninja I met from Konoha was a man unparalleled, and the only person to defeat me in combat in the last fifteen years."

"Umm, okay?" Naruto replied questioningly.

"Heh, don't worry about it, Uzumaki-san." Yuuka swiftly backed away and Naruto began to breathe a little easier. "Now, why don't we get on with the exhibition?" She turned and gave a significant look to her shinobi who all instantly made themselves busy.

A few awkward minutes passed as the Chuunin teachers gathered up the three top students and moved the rest to stand next to one of the sparring rings.

"Okay, these three are the top students in the academy." Yuuka began as they walked up to a trio of students standing in the middle of the ring. "They are Inoue-kun," She indicated a brown haired boy. "Nakayama-kun," This time she pointed to a red headed boy. "And Yamashina-chan," A girl with long black hair was waved at.

"It's an honor to fight against three shinobi from Konoha." Yamashina replied with a bow, her dark hair spilling over her shoulders.

"Yes, well, these people are Haruno-san, Uchiha-san, and Uzumaki-san." Yuuka told the three. "Now, onto the rules. The only rule is: don't die." Yuuka smiled brightly as the academy students nodded and the Konoha nin looked at her in shock.

"Yamamoto-sama, surely you mean to impose other rules?" Shizune asked. In sparring, there were always rules to limit just what you could do to your opponent, even if accidents and getting hurt were expected. "Kakashi's team is far more experienced than these students."

"Here in Iwa, we train as though it were a life and death matter, because, frankly, it is." Yuuka turned to stare at her. "Everyone here knows what it means to be shinobi. I see no reason to coddle them. I want them to have the experience of fighting real shinobi. Besides, I doubt they were planning on going full out against my people anyway." Yuuka snorted.

The three shuffled a little. It was completely true; they weren't going to give their absolute best.

"If you're sure, Yamamoto-sama," Shizune conceded reluctantly.

"I am." Was the short reply. She motioned everyone out of the ring except the six fighting and one Chuunin who was to act as referee.

"Are you ready?" The Chuunin asked both groups as they lined up across from each other. They nodded at him. "Then, begin!" He dropped a hand and leapt back out of the way.

The three Genin instantly leapt back as well while the academy students stood for a moment before belatedly moving back into a huddle.

"How do we want to do this?" Sakura whispered to Naruto and Sasuke without taking her eyes off their opponents.

"Aw, jeez I don't know. I don't wanna hurt them." Naruto replied in a soft tone.

"Well, we can't just stand here." Sasuke snapped softly.

"Fine, fine. We'll start with Taijutsu, see what happens, engage briefly and then get back and regroup. We'll decide what to do after that." Naruto sighed.

"Fine. Who's taking who?" Sakura asked from where she stood to his left.

"You take the girl. I'll take center. Sasuke, the other boy," Naruto instructed. They nodded at him in agreement. "Well, let's go then!" He dashed off towards the center boy, Nakayama, with Sasuke and Sakura right behind him, heading for their targets as well.

Naruto reached the red headed Nakayama first and quickly slid into the forward stance of his style and attempted a Fire Form punch to the abdomen. Nakayama, shocked to see one of his country's styles being used, was too slow to dodge the punch but managed to block the next Metal Form strike to his shoulder. Unfortunately, as he held Naruto's right hand in his left and attempted his own strike with his right, Naruto's own left hand came out over it in an Earth Form blow to his chest, knocking him up and back.

Sakura meanwhile, had made it to Yamashina. Before Yamashina could attempt a solid side strike to Sakura's stomach, Sakura quickly slipped under the younger girl's arm to have her back. Once there, Sakura quickly bent her left knee up and pivoted on her right leg, catching Yamashina in the side with her calf as Yamashina attempted to turn. While Yamashina was off balance, Sakura put her left foot down, continued her momentum spinning and brought her right foot out in a sharp backwards kick to the other girl's shoulder, knocking her to the ground.

Sasuke had, upon reaching his own opponent, Inoue, been forced to block an ever shifting variety of blows from the boy. Sasuke had to admit that the kid had style and speed, but the strikes were individually too weak to do any real damage. After just a moment Sasuke was able to break Inoue's pattern and slip inside is guard, his back facing Inoue's chest, to deliver a sharp and powerful elbow thrust into the boy's stomach. Inoue stumbled back and fell to his knees, breathing hard.

While their opponents were all catching their breath, Sasuke, Sakura and Naruto moved back to their starting positions.

"They aren't much are they?" Naruto murmured to his teammates.

"We weren't much when we were in the academy, either, Dobe." Sasuke replied.

"Speak for yourself. I was amazing!" Naruto snapped softly.

"Now you sound like Sajiki-san." Sakura pointed out.

"Gah! Don't compare me to her!" Naruto hissed.

"Then don't act like her." Sasuke countered dully.

In the audience, Kakashi was busy being proud of his students and Yuuka was nodding her head.

"At least the boy seems to treat the style with respect." She said. Kakashi didn't have to ask what she was talking about. "They're all good, especially the girl. Very graceful. The Uchiha is quite impressive as well. You taught them well, you must be a wonderful instructor."

"No, they are the ones who worked so hard." Kakashi replied with traditional humbleness.

"Still, hard work gets you nowhere without proper guidance." Yuuka responded.

"I'm just fortunate to have such capable students." Kakashi told her.

"Since when were you this humble, eh?" She smirked at him. "This sort of thing, I don't think this stiff formalness suits you." Kakashi nodded at her.

"Yuuka-sama." A polite voice broke in from behind them. The pair turned around.

"Yes Mole-san?" Yuuka replied. "You are interrupting."

Kakashi felt his eyes widen slightly. An Iwa ANBU stood behind them in a kneeling position. He hadn't sensed the agent come up behind him at all. Catching the small smile that played at the lips of the Tsuchikage he realized that Yuuka had gone through that whole conversation to deliberately distract him.

"It is of some importance Yuuka-sama." The masked nin pulled a small scroll from a pocket. "It's about the search for the Konoha team."

"Is that so? Thank you, Mole-san." Yuuka nodded at him and took the scroll. All around them, everything had stopped; the eyes of the crowd on them.

Yuuka swiftly broke the seal on the scroll and unwound it. Skimming through it, her eyes narrowed and a crease formed in her brow. She pressed her lips into a thin, tight line before quickly rolling the scroll back and storming to the center of the sparring ring.

"This match is over!" She cried as she walked.

"But Yuuka-sama!" Nakayama began to protest.

"But nothing Nakayama-kun. This match is over. The Konoha ninja will accompany me back to my office. Kimura-san as well. I will have to come back another day to see your training." Yuuka spoke with an iron tone.

"Yes Yuuka-sama." The three students who had been sparring bowed their heads to her.

"Yamamoto-sama, is something wrong?" Shizune asked as she rushed to the Tsuchikage's side, Kakashi right behind her.

"I will only discuss it in my office." She said coldly. She then began to storm off in the direction of the administration building. "Kimura, keep up! Mole, you as well." She called to her nin who both moved to walk beside and a little behind her as she made her way through the village.

The Konoha nin looked at each other in confusion before hastening to follow the irate woman. Their journey back was much shorter than their previous stroll to the Academy. The Kage, despite her shorter legs, set a swift pace.

Once at the doors of her office, Yuuka did not wait for them to be opened for her by Kimura, instead she flung one open hard enough to crack it before gliding up to her desk with much more grace than she felt like giving it.

Kimura patiently waited for the Konoha shinobi to file in before softly shutting the door. Or, _attempting_ to softly shut the door, in the end it had to be slammed closed. Mole had moved to stand behind and to the side of where Yuuka sat at her desk, glowering at the scroll in front of her.

"Do you know what this is?" She asked pointing to the offending scroll.

"No, Yamamoto-sama, we do-" Shizune was cut off from her whole reply.

"This is a message informing me that one of my teams made up of three Chuunin as disappeared while in Konoha searching for your lost genin team." Cold eyes glared at them as a clipped tone gave them the news.

"I, uh—what?" Shizune stuttered out.

"I sent out several teams three days ago, five teams to be exact, two Genin teams and three three-man teams made up of Chuunin. I've just learned that a team investigating in Fire Country with permission from Hokage-sama has turned up missing. They failed to check in twelve hours ago and no trace of them has been found by another of my teams that went to inquire." She informed them with little infliction. It was easy to see now the general who had once been called The Fist of Iwa in this tiny woman. Her chin was tilted proudly and defiantly, her eyes narrowed and keenly observant, her mouth was set in a firm line. Her shoulders were relaxed and her arms were lying lazily on the desk but she was seated at the edge of her chair, pushed back enough from the desk to be able to easily leap up if needed.

"I assure you Konoha had _nothing _to do with this. We don't know anything about what happened." Shizune rushed to say in defense.

"I'm sure you don't know anything. I wouldn't send my shinobi into a country under the guise of good-will while telling them any acts of war I had planned." Yuuka agreed. "After all, should I decide to have you tortured for information you wouldn't be able to tell me what you didn't know. Still, how do I know Konoha didn't have a hand in this?"

"Yamamoto-sama, please—" Shizune began to beseech her.

"Shizune-san, please, shut up." The Tsuchikage said. Shizune did so immediately. "Right now, everything points to Konoha wanting war with us. What am I to think? You claim to send a team, and you claim they vanish while in my country, and now one of my own teams vanish in your country while searching for a Genin team I very much doubts exists in the first place!"

This time Shizune didn't even try to talk and just sat staring at the furious Tsuchikage.

"I am not a politician. I don't have the time or patience to figure out plots of politics. I am a fighter, and a damn good one. The fighter in me is telling me to start a war." Yuuka spoke calmly and deliberately and the shinobi facing her tensed. "Lucky for you I love Iwa more than anything and therefore everything I do is for the good of Iwa. War, would not be for the good of Iwa. War would crumble all the rebuilding we have done since the last war. But, should you push us, we will fight to that last man and we will do it with great joy in the honor of our great nation."

"Yamamoto-sama, I am sure that there must be an explanation." Shizune tried to reason.

"Of course there is an explanation." Yuuka sneered at her. "The question is, is it a good one, or is one that I would like to hear?"

Silence filled the room as no one had an answer.

"Nothing will be done for now. I will give Konoha a week to find something, anything. After that, who knows?" Yuuka sighed as she rubbed a temple. "Go with Mole-san back to your rooms please."

They left bowing to the Tsuchikage.

"Yuuka-sama, what would you have me do?" Kimura asked from his place next to her.

"Watch them closely. They are to have no communication with the outside, especially Konoha. They are not to leave their rooms. Record all their conversations. Go through their belongings again, double check everything for hidden messages or instructions." She ordered him. "From this point on, they are our hostages."

"And in a week? If nothing is found?" Kimura asked.

"In a week, if it comes to that, their deaths will be the opening move in a terrific game of war." The Tsuchikage replied. "I should have thought you would have known that, Kimura-kun."

---

**OMAKE: Cooking Lessons Pt. 3 - The Great Cake Fiasco**

Sakura supposed that, really, she had only herself to blame. If only she hadn't offered to give them cooking lessons! If only she hadn't let them practice at her house! If only that damn cake hadn't exploded!

It hadn't started out so bad. At precisely ten o'clock that day, she had opened up her front door to find all three of them there. Even Kakashi! Although, he did have the audacity to be reading that smut right there on her stoop. The bastard!

Still, she ushered them all into her home and pointed them in the direction of the kitchen. As Kakashi passed she reached for—but missed—the small book he was holding. He simply smiled at her and tucked it away. Jerk.

As they stood on one side of the table, and Sakura on the other, she smiled brightly at them.

"Alright, today we are going to bake a cake, together!" She cheered. Sakura was completely ignoring what had happened last week. She wasn't going to think about it. In fact, she'd already forgotten! So there!

"What kind of cake?" Naruto asked her warily. Her happy mood was freaking him (and Sasuke) out.

"Chocolate with strawberry frosting." Sakura replied.

"I hate strawberries." Naruto said scrunching his nose up.

"No you don't." Sakura told him.

"Yes I do." Naruto argued back.

"No, you _don't_."

"I do!"

"YOU DON'T AND THAT'S FINAL! GOT IT?!" Sakura yelled at him.

"I just remembered, I hate mangos, not strawberries." Naruto chuckled nervously.

"Great!" Sakura smiled at him brightly. "Do either of you have an issue with the type of cake we are making?" She asked Kakashi and Sasuke.

They both shook their heads no.

"Excellent." Sakura smiled again. "Now, first things first, we preheat the oven."

Sakura did so and then she showed them just what ingredients to mix. Having mixed the ingredients and poured it into a cake pan, she walked back to the oven to stick it in.

"That's odd." Sakura said once she opened the door. "The oven isn't hot yet."

"You sure you turned it on?" Sasuke asked her.

"Yes…" She murmured as she looked at the dial. Just in case she turned it a bit. No, it was on. "It must be broken."

"What about the cake?" Kakashi asked. He didn't care that much, but the ingredients for it were expensive and it would be a waste if they had to throw the batter away.

"I don't know. I guess…" Sakura trailed off to think. Maybe they could use the neighbor's oven?

"Why don't we just Katon it?" Naruto suggested. They'd used Katons to cook meat before.

"That sounds like an excellent suggestion." Kakashi smiled at him while Sakura blanched. "Sasuke, would you?"

Sasuke shrugged while forming the proper seals.

"Wait! Don't-" Too late. Sasuke breathed out a stream of fire and it engulfed the pan sitting on the stove.

A loud crack followed by a pop was heard and the pan jumped up into the air. The batter boiled and then exploded over the walls, floors, and counters. They were all just lucky that Kakashi had seen the danger and yelled 'DOWN!' They had all been able to dive behind an island counter and thus were protected from the searing hot, sticky batter.

After a minute had passed, they all cautiously edged their eyes over the edges of the counter.

The kitchen was a mess! Sakura's parents were so going to kill her!

"That…was…AWESOME!" Naruto shouted.

"My kitchen…" Sakura whimpered.

"I must admit, I didn't expect that to happen." Kakashi commented.

"…We're going to have to clean this, aren't we?" Sasuke sighed.

"THAT'S IT! NEVER AGAIN!" Sakura screamed furiously at them. "LOOK AT MY KITCHEN! YOU DESTROYED IT!"

"It was an accident, Sakura-chan." Naruto reasoned nervously.

"Yeah." Sasuke huffed.

"Don't worry, a couple of Suitons and this place will be good as new." Kakashi smiled at her.

"NO WAY! NO MORE JUTSU!" Sakura waved her arms out in front of her.

"Are you sure?" Kakashi asked her.

"Yes. You will be helping me clean the old fashioned way." She glared at them menacingly. They all gulped. "And if you all try to weasel out of it, I'll make sure your next appointment at the hospital ends with a prostate exam, got it?" More gulps and some meek, "Yes Sakura-sama" s.

"Good."

End Part 3 - End Cooking Lessons.

**Author's Note Reprise: **The dialogue:Twitches and dies: I'm sorry. Next chapter will be better (less chatty). Next chapter is also the denoument of this arc. Next chapter will feature more of Kimura, who will also magically gain a personality. Next chapter will also have more Sasuke (I hope. He is such a pain in the ass to write which is why he is woefully neglected in this story). Next chapter will not be out so fast. Count your blessings that you got this one so fast.

**Snicky's Note! **I would like to apologize to those of you who are noticing the changes in grammar and spelling I am constantly making. I'm not perfect, I'm still learning. I think I've changed how I spell 'Chuunin' three times now. I'm not fluent in Japanese, people.

**Taijutsu Notes:** Go back to chapter 11 (I don't want to type it all out again, or even copy and paste, I'm too lazy.)

**Jutsu Notes:** None.

**Culture Notes: **New section, woot!

The conversation Yuuka and Kakashi have right before the ANBU shows up: In Japan it's very rude to simple accept praise. If someone compliments you you don't just say 'Thank you' and move on. It's crass and vulgar to do so. Typically the person being complimented gives excuses, the complimenter says it a couple more times, and then does the complimented accept, humbly.

**PREVIEW:**

"I hate people who lie to me. I hate people who try to manipulate me. But most of all, I hate any who would dare to threaten MY Iwa!" The Tsuchikage snarled at the Jounin in front of her before quickly unhooking her earrings and ripping off her necklace. Once that was done, she callously tossed them to the side as she slid gracefully into the starting stance of her most ruthless style, Lion Fight Boxing.

"I will show you just what happens to those that I hate." She sneered nastily. "I hope you are prepared to meet the gods."

"I won't be the one to meet them today, dear Tsuchikage-sama." He replied.

**REVIEW OR I'LL EAT YOU! RAWGH! 55 Reviews Gets An OMAKE!**

**ALSO: **Would anybody like to write for me a one shot featuring any or all of my OCs (Yuuka, Atsuko, Kimura(who will soon gain a personality))? Do so and I will write for you a 2000 word or longer one shot of your choice! Feel free to go crazy if you do, I want to see what you can come up with.


	15. Chapter 15

**An Alternative Path **

**Author's note: **I seemed to have lied about the amount of dialogue that would be taking place in this chapter. I'm sorry but anyone who has ever paid attention to politics knows that it's all a bunch of people sitting around talking out of their asses. Seriously.

I also seemed to have lied about Sasuke, although to be fair the plot just wouldn't allow for it at this time xP

Also: There is some swearing, more than usual. Just a note, this story is teen so, yeah.

Also Again: The length! God! I am never writing such a long chapter ever again!

Also the Third: 115 Reviews. Awesome! I respond to many of them.

**IMPORTANT: **This story is AU. That means ALTERNATE UNIVERSE. That means I can do whatever the hell I want and you have to suck it up and deal.

**BTW: **I don't own Naruto! I do however own Sajiki Atsuko and now Yamamoto Yuuka (and Kimura, whom I have given a personality AND a first name.) You can borrow them if you give me credit.

**The Fury of The Fist of Iwa**

Yamamoto Yuuka was debating taking up drinking, or maybe smoking, something to take the edge off, at any rate. The past twenty-four hours had done nothing by drain on her nerves. She sighed as she massaged her temples with her right hand and filled out another search and rescue mission assignment form with her left.

She had to admit, being ambidextrous came in handy when doing paperwork.

A cup of tea suddenly alighted onto the desk in front of her and Yuuka turned her head to regard the man who had placed it there.

"Kimura-kun. I thought I told you to watch the Konoha-nin?" She said with a sigh as she lifted the delicate piece of china to her lips.

"I got Mole to replace me, Yuuka-chan." The black haired Jounin smiled softly at her. "How long are you going to keep calling me Kimura?" he added as an afterthought.

"Sorry. I guess I just never did get used to calling people by their first names." The Tsuchikage replied after she took a sip. For a while they lapsed into silence. "Hey, Shuu-kun…do you think Konoha is trying to start a war?"

"No," Kimura answered her as he took a seat in a chair before her desk, "Konoha is very peace loving, aren't they? And right now they are still rebuilding from that attack six months ago. Not to mention it seems odd that they would send a party here to barter for peace if they wanted war. Hatake-san is a great ninja, they wouldn't risk sending him here if war were truly their agenda, and Shizune-san is a medic, they wouldn't want to lose her. To be honest, it just doesn't make much sense, Yuuka-chan."

"You always were the clever one, Shuu-kun." Yuuka smiled at him before sighing and staring down into her tea cup. Carefully, she swirled the contents around; taking pains not to splash any over the cup's edges. "I don't know what to do. I am not good at this political intrigue. For me, standing up and facing down your opponent; you each doing the best you can to hurt the other, this is how shinobi are suppose to act. There is something honorable in acknowledging that all you want to do is beat the other person down. This skulking in the shadows… I was never good at it, like a shinobi should be, I guess. I wonder… I worry I will lead Iwa into something dangerous simply because I'm too headstrong."

"Yuuka… You love Iwa more than anything, that's all that matters." Kimura placed a hand over one of hers. "Everyone here knows that everything you do is for the benefit of Iwa."

"And they would follow me blindly for that." Yuuka closed her eyes and leant back into her chair. "I just hope I don't make any mistakes."

"Don't worry. Everyone here in Iwa will help you." Kimura reassured her, "Me, especially."

"I know, Shuu. I'm counting on it." Yuuka opened her eyes again and sat up straight. She placed her teacup back on the desk with a light thump. "Bring me one of the Konoha-nin. I wish to ask them a few questions."

"Yes, Yuuka-sama," Kimura easily slipped from the role of a friend to the role of a subordinate. "Who would you like for me to bring?"

"The blonde boy. His lips seem looser than the rest. Plus…" Yuuka trailed off as she stared at the wall across from her desk.

"Plus what?" Kimura asked.

"He reminds me of Namikaze. That's all." Yuuka replied. "Go now."

"Yes." Kimura bowed to her before disappearing out the recently repaired doors.

Yuuka sighed one more time before getting back to work. Oh, the joys of being a Kage…

---

The Konoha-nin quickly surmised that they were now hostages. While they were allowed to move to and from each others' rooms, they were not allowed to leave the floor their rooms were located. Food was brought to them by a timid but kind civilian woman and an Iwa-nin was always standing out in the hall.

They didn't even attempt to open the windows.

Kakashi came back from poking his head out the door to see the rest of his comrades playing cards on the floor.

"Kimura's gone. The Mole ANBU is in his place." He answered their inquisitive stares.

"Jeez, this is so boring." Naruto mumbled as he tossed away two cards. Shizune dealt him two new ones.

"At least you're winning." Sasuke told him. Sasuke had lost twenty hands in a row to the blonde. In fact, Naruto had won every game.

"I vote that we play something besides poker." Sakura said as she scowled at her hand. A pair of twos and three mismatched cards stared back at her. Undoubtedly, Naruto had a full house; he always seemed to get a full house whenever she got a pair.

"How about blackjack?" Naruto suggested.

"No way. You'll just win at that too." Sakura disagreed.

"I think the Dobe would win no matter what card game we played." Sasuke said, frowning at his own hand. Three of a kind was good but it probably wouldn't beat Naruto.

Shizune sighed from her spot on the floor. Her own hand was abysmal. She had a king high and that was it. She too wanted to do something else; cards always reminded her of her years spent in debt with Tsunade-sama.

"I call." Naruto said as he laid down his hand. A full house, just like Sakura thought. The others all groaned as they threw their cards onto the floor.

"You always win!" Sakura exclaimed. Naruto's constant winning was putting her in a foul mood.

"Sorry! I don't know why that always happens." Naruto apologized even as he cringed back with his arms over his head. This only served to make Sakura even angrier.

Sasuke ignored them as he gathered up the fallen cards. Shizune was trying to get them to stop arguing. Kakashi meanwhile, had sat down on one of the beds and was reading his book.

After a few minutes, things settled down again and they began to play a game of Go Fish. It was that or Old Maid according to Sakura. Fifteen minutes later and Naruto had beaten them all by at least five pairs. They switched to Crazy Eights. Naruto won again. Sakura resumed her beating, Shizune tried to stop them again, and Sasuke gathered up the cards.

Kakashi had yet to look up from his book.

A knock rang out from the door and they all looked up. It was three in the afternoon; not time yet for food, plus the knock had been more forceful than the one the timid girl had given when she brought up food. They all looked at each other before Kakashi went to answer.

"Good afternoon." Kimura bowed slightly with a smirk planted on his face. "May I come in?"

Kakashi stood to the side and waved the man in.

"Tsuchikage-sama requests for Uzumaki-san to join her in her office." Kimura said in a smug voice.

The others stiffened and looked at each other. What did the Tsuchikage want with Naruto? Shizune and Kakashi looked more concerned than the others.

"Ah, must it be Naruto? Surely I could go instead?" Shizune began. "I am the emissary after all."

"No. I'm afraid Tsuchikage-sama specifically asked for the boy. Sorry." He didn't look very sorry and he'd been staring at Naruto the entire time.

Kakashi caught Naruto's eyes and nodded at him. Naruto stood from his spot on the floor and walked away from Sakura and towards Kimura.

"Let's go. It wouldn't due to keep her waiting, would it?" Kimura tilted his head at Naruto and received only a glower for his efforts. He chuckled lightly as he led the way out the door.

"Kimura-san. What are the Tsuchikage's orders for the rest of them?" Mole spoke as they exited the room.

"The orders don't change. Keep them here. Make sure they're feed and kept content. That's all." Kimura frowned at him.

"Ah, are you sure?" Mole asked staring at Kimura intently.

"Of course. If Tsuchikage-sama had given other orders I would have brought it up before I got the boy." Kimura was growing irritated. "Surely you know the standard way of things, Mole-san."

"Yes, Kimura-san." Mole bowed his head.

Kimura frowned once more at the strange acting ANBU before making his way down the stairs to the first floor of the Inn. Once outside, he set a brisk pace for walking towards the Administration Building.

"Umm, Kimura-san…" Naruto began before pausing. Kimura gave him a nod to continue. "What does the Tsuchikage want?"

"I'm not sure, Uzumaki-san. I believe she just wants to ask you some questions." Kimura spoke lazily and without looking at the one he was addressing.

"Just call me Naruto. I feel like I've gotten in trouble when people call me Uzumaki." He made a face. It was true. People seemed to love screaming 'UZUMAKI!!!!' whenever he did something wrong.

"Very well then, Naruto-san." Kimura smirked again.

"Hey! Is all you do smirk?" The smirk widened.

"No. Sometimes I snarl." The Jounin answered him simply. Naruto didn't know what to say to that and they end up walking in silence the rest of the way.

When they came across the large building, Naruto thought that it might just be a little more intimidating without the rest of his team. The various shinobi they passed as they walked towards the Tsuchikage's office seemed just a little more hostile than previously. Naruto couldn't help the small hunching of his shoulders as they drew close to their destination—a natural defense he always used when he was anxious.

Kimura rapped lightly on the door with his knuckles and was rewarded with a call to enter. He silently opened the door and ushered Naruto into the room.

"Ah, hello, Uzumaki-san." Yuuka set down the paper she'd been squinting at. Some of her shinobi really needed to work on their penmanship. She was going to go blind trying to read all those messy scrawls.

"Err, just Naruto, please." Naruto said as he moved up to her desk.

He wasn't intimidated because she was a Kage. He didn't immediately assume that he had to be polite and respectful and distant because she was a Kage. He'd spent too much time around Kages for that. He was only slightly intimidated because she was a woman. In Naruto's experience, women were strong, easily angered, and generally crazy; although their simple awesomeness was not to be ignored (after all, Tsunade fought in heels, Naruto could barely fight in his sandals). So Naruto respected her just a little 'cuz she was female.

But mostly Naruto respected her and was intimidated by her because of her professed love of Iwa. The Sandaime had once told him that when someone loves something and that thing is threatened they grow many times stronger to protect it. The Sandaime loved Konoha more than anything and was Hokage. This person loved Iwa more than anything and was Tsuchikage.

It was all linear to Naruto.

"Are you scared of me, Naruto-kun?" The Kage asked him as she stared him straight in the eye.

"No." Naruto answered simply. Naruto had never been scared of a Kage in his life. He didn't see any reason to be now. He noticed Kimura looking at him oddly and he inquired aloud to the look he was getting.

"You should be scared, little boy. That woman could turn you inside out." He sneered. Apparently, he did more than smirk and snarl, after all.

"I've never been scared of a Kage before, so I'm not scared now." Naruto shrugged. To him it was simple.

"Explain that, please." Yuuka smiled at him brightly while making a small motion with her hand at Kimura. The Jounin took a seat in one of the chairs.

"Well, the Old Man—that's the Sandaime—never scared me, and Baa-chan, er, Tsunade-sama—well, actually, she scares me a little. She gives really painful noogies." His tiny audience blinked at him.

"Old Man? Baa-chan? They let shinobi get away with such disrespect in your country?" Yuuka asked him eventually.

"No most people call Baa-chan Hokage-sama or Tsunade-sama. I call her Baa-chan 'cuz she's old and cause it irritates her. Mostly 'cuz it irritates her. She usually throws things at me or hits me when I say it, though." Naruto shrugged again.

"I'm told her physical strength is fearsome." Yuuka raised a brow. "You aren't hurt by her when she attacks you?"

"She doesn't attack me, and she doesn't hurt me, not really. Baa-chan wouldn't do that." Now Naruto was starting to get mad at her tone.

"Hmph, still, for a Kage to attack her own shinobi, especially a child. How… barbaric." Yuuka wrinkled her nose while inwardly smirking.

"HEY! You aren't allowed to insult Baa-chan! Baa-chan loves me and would never hurt me." Naruto snarled at her. "You have no clue what you're talking about. Insult her again and I'll hurt you. I don't care if you _are_ a Kage."

Kimura had leapt up to attack Naruto but in the blink of an eye, Yuuka was standing between Naruto and Kimura, a single hand pressed against Kimura's chest to hold him back.

"Kimura. Leave, now." Yuuka ordered him without taking her eyes off the angry Naruto.

"Yuuka-chan, this boy said-" He stopped talking as Yuuka lazily turned her head and regarded him with a glare.

"Please Kimura-san, do you think your Kage so weak as to be hurt by a boy?" She frowned at him as he hastily shook his head. "I thought not. Now, please leave us."

"Yes, Yuuka-sama." Kimura bowed as he backed away and out the door, Yuuka watching his progress and Naruto watching her.

"I like that." Yuuka said suddenly throwing Naruto off balance.

"I...you…what?"

"Boy, you just threatened the Tsuchikage. Takes some real balls to do that." She smiled at him brightly before throwing her head back to laugh at his bewildered face. "Come, sit here with me. Let's talk."

"What do you want to talk about?" Naruto asked suspiciously as he settled into the chair.

"Let's talk about you, and about Konoha, and about Iwa, and about shinobi, and war, and peace, and life, and dying, and about everything in the world. And, maybe, when we're done, I'll have all the answers I need." She laughed again when he just looked confused.

"It might take awhile to talk about all that." Naruto finally said.

"Well, if we have all the time in the world I'd rather spend it talking than fighting." Yuuka commented.

"Yeah. I guess." Naruto was quickly putting Yuuka into the mental category of 'Crazy Old Women Who Can Beat Me Up', Tsunade and Atsuko already took up residence there.

"You said you'd hurt me if I insulted her again. Just how do you plan of accomplishing that when I'm a Kage and you're just a Genin?" Yuuka stood from her chair to move towards a cabinet against the wall.

"Doesn't matter. I'll still hurt you. Even if it kills me." Naruto shrugged for a third time while warily watching Yuuka move. Yuuka however, stopped shuffling in the cabinet to turn and stare at Naruto. Her eyes got a glazed look that Naruto had seen a couple times before in Kakashi, Jiraiya, and Tsunade. They got it whenever they remembered something from the past.

"You know…once, a long time ago…I said those exact same words to a man with too blonde hair, too blue eyes, and too much will for me to beat. He told me I'd only lose against him with a useless arm. I didn't agree." She moved to hold her right elbow in her left hand, thumb tracing the length of the scar. "I told him 'Doesn't matter. I'll still hurt you. Even if it kills me.'"

"Um, okay?" Naruto scratched the side of his head awkwardly.

"Sorry. For some reason, the day you get old is the day you start finding yourself back in the past far more often than you'd like. I think shinobi get older faster than most people." She turned back to the cabinet and took out a container of tea leaves. Next she pulled out a travel brewer. Filling the brewer with water from a jug, she began to make some tea.

"Hey, are you really forty?" Naruto asked, unable to contain his curiosity.

"No. I'm thirty-eight." Yuuka told him without turning around.

"Thirty-eight? That's still pretty old. Do you use a Genjutsu like Baa-chan to make yourself look young? Or maybe a seal like the Crazy Old Bitch?"

"By 'Crazy Old Bitch' I'm going to assume you mean Sajiki-san. But no, I don't use either. I guess I just look young." Yuuka looked back over her shoulder. "Sajiki-san _is_ pretty crazy, isn't she?"

"She's totally nutso! When I asked her a question once she used this fan of hers to slam me into a tree!" Naruto waved his arms around in an effort to indicate just how crazy she was.

"Still, she's a medical and Fuinjutsu genius." Yuuka told him while inwardly laughing at his opinion of Atsuko.

"I know." Naruto dropped his hands. "You can tell that from her scrolls. I don't understand them completely, but I know she's really, really smart."

"It's more than being smart. She understands the nature of seals and the human body in ways that most people could never even imagine." Yuuka poured freshly made tea into two cups before carrying back over to Naruto. "Are you learning Fuinjutsu, Naruto-kun?"

"Kinda." Was all Naruto said as he picked up on of the cups of tea and stared at it.

"That's tough. Tell me about Konoha." Yuuka commanded as she picked up her own cup and sat in the chair next to his, twisting her body to face him.

"I shouldn't." Naruto hedged, just now realizing that he shouldn't really be talking to her.

"Alright, then tell me about _your_ Konoha and I'll tell you about _my_ Iwa." Naruto understood exactly what she meant. She didn't want him to or expect him to give up Konoha's secrets, but rather she wanted to know what he thought of Konoha and why it was special to him.

"Konoha is my home. My apartment isn't my home. The Hokage tower isn't my home. The orphanage isn't my home. They're just places I've lived. Konoha is my home. Not everyone likes me. Some of them hate me. Most think I'm an idiot. But they're still all my family. I love some of them. Baa-chan, and Ero-sennin, and Kakashi-sensei, and Shizune-nee-chan, and Sakura-chan, and Sasuke-teme, and Iruka-sensei, and Ichiraku-jii-chan, and some others. I don't know most of them. I don't like all of them. But they're all my family, so I'd do anything to protect them. I don't fit in completely there, but it's getting better. My unhappiest moments and my most happiest moments are all there. My memories are there. Sometimes, Konoha feels like its smothering me. I feel like I can't breathe or grow there. But then I look around and I realize that it doesn't matter. It's hard to describe it all in words, but Konoha is my home…" Naruto trailed off after his passionate speech before picking it back up again. "And I guess Konoha is my reason, too."

"Iwa is my life." Yuuka told him before taking a sip of tea. "It's not complicated or anything. Quite simply, Iwa is my life. I _am_ Iwa. All those people out there are mine. They are mine to have, to love, and to keep. Mine to hurt, and help, and love, and hate. No one else is allowed to touch them. I exist for Iwa now. It didn't used to be like that. A long time ago, Iwa was just a place and a thing. A place I lived, a thing I served. Now, without Iwa I would be nothing. You said Konoha was your reason. Iwa is my reason. It's why I try so hard. It's why I fight. It's why I got so strong. It's why I wake up every morning. It's why I do everything that I do. Iwa is everything and it is all that matters to me."

"You love Iwa." Naruto said.

"Yes." She agreed with a nod.

"I love Konoha." Naruto told her.

"I think perhaps you and me can understand each other." Yuuka smiled at him. "Why are you a shinobi?"

"So I can be Hokage." Naruto sniffed at his tea before lifting it to his lips. He didn't much like tea.

"You wish to be Hokage? Why?" Yuuka asked although she thought she already knew.

"Konoha." Naruto smiled brightly at her.

"I suppose that would be the answer to almost anything I could think to ask." Yuuka laughed at him. "I didn't become a ninja so I could be Tsuchikage, though."

"Then why?" Naruto asked her.

"I didn't have a reason. It was more that I had no reason _not _to be one, so I became one." Yuuka lifted her shoulders and let them fall. "At first I followed orders because it was easier than to not follow them. The things I used to do I did because they were easy. And then my teammate died because I always took the easy way. Not long after that, it was my sensei that died. And then it was just me and Kimura. Kimura told me that it were time I grew up, and he didn't tell me kindly. So I did. I began to work really hard because I'm not a genius and nothing has ever _really_ come easy to me. Somehow, trying really hard…it felt useless unless I had a reason. At first, Kimura was my reason because I didn't want him to die. Then children became my reason because I've always loved children a lot. After that, their parents became my reason, I didn't want them to die and leave the children. I'm not sure when it happened—sometime after the war started, but before I became a general—Iwa became my reason. Then, sometime after I became a general, right before the war ended, I suppose I decided I wanted to become the Tsuchikage."

They sat in silence for a while. Yuuka got up once to refill their tea cups and Naruto shifted in his chair to be more comfortable a couple of times.

"What would you do if there was war?" Yuuka asked without looking at him.

"I would fight."

"For Konoha?"

"Yes." Naruto smiled bitterly at her. "Although, I hope it won't happen."

"I don't want war, but I am a warrior and at the end of the day, I solve problems with my fist." Yuuka clasped her right hand, then releasing it as she picked up the refilled cups and carried them back over to the chairs. "It was for this reason I was known as The Fist of Iwa."

"Yeah, right." Naruto smirked at her.

"What?" Yuuka turned to glare at him as she lowered herself into her seat.

"I don't think that's why they called you that."

"Then why do you think they called me that?"

"Because you love Iwa." Naruto's smirk grew. "Although, they should have called you The Heart of Iwa."

"…_Don't know why they didn't just call you The Heart of Iwa." _

Yuuka's eyes widened and the cup fell to the ground and smashed. Naruto asked her what was wrong at the same time Kimura burst through the door.

"Stop, Kimura." Yuuka said calmly while still staring at the floor. Kimura instantly relaxed his grip on the sword at his side, although he did not removed his hand from the hilt. "I apologize Naruto-kun, but I am not feeling well." She frowned.

"Sure, no problem. I'll just go back to the others." Naruto was looking at her oddly. So was Kimura.

"Shrew will take you." Yuuka said and a bird-masked ANBU appeared at his side.

"Right. Umm, nice talking to you, Yuuka-sama." Naruto bowed awkwardly.

"Yes." Yuuka replied thoughtfully.

As soon as the door shut behind the blonde and the ANBU, Kimura spun around and gave Yuuka a speculative look, "What happened?"

Yuuka sighed as she bent down to pick up the fragments of her cup. Kimura was instantly at her side to do it instead, but she pushed his hands away and glared at him.

"Have you ever had the past just sort of… leap out and grab you?" Yuuka asked him. The Jounin shook is head in response. "That boy said something and… It was so long ago, but I can't help but to remember it."

"Will you tell me?" Kimura asked after a couple of awkward minutes passed in silence.

"Fourteen years ago, back during the war, back when I was being held by Konoha, I got a chance to talk with Namikaze. I mean, more than just the usual sorts of things you yell at your enemy in a fight." She smiled awkwardly. "It was so long ago, but that boy… I can't help but remember."

"_I'm sorry." A voice said from beyond her prison's bars. Craning her neck, she could see Minato Namikaze standing there; a petulant expression on his face. Yuuka couldn't help the wave of anger she felt at his words._

"_You're _sorry_? You think I care if you're sorry? How dare you come here and…and screw with me like this!" Yuuka tried to move forward but the chain around her one good arm prevented her. "What makes you think you can say anything like that to me? Why _would you_ say something like that to me?"_

"_Because it doesn't hurt me to say it." Minato shrugged at her._

"_You're a fool." Yuuka snarled at him. "A damn fool and a bastard." _

"_Sure. I've been told that a lot." He merely shrugged again. "Still, I am sorry about your arm. I didn't mean to slam the kunai directly into your elbow." He frowned as his eyes dropped to the freshly bandaged wound. The medics had just told him that she was unlikely to be able to use it ever again. It was a pity. She'd been so fierce in battle. To his surprise, she laughed at him._

"_You're a shinobi. Act like it." She glared. "This sort of thing, it wounds my honor."_

"_But your arm is useless now." Minato pointed out._

"_So? I'm still a shinobi with or without this arm. I will do what I must for Iwa. Even fight you again." _

"_You'd only lose."_

"_Doesn't matter. I'll still hurt you. Even if it kills me." She snarled at him._

"…'_Don't know why they didn't just call you The Heart of Iwa." The man smiled at her. "Suits you much more than being called the fist."_

"You never told me any of this," Kimura accused, hurt and angry.

"I know." Yuuka looked at him sadly. "It wasn't my proudest moment, but I learned something that day. This knowledge, I wanted to keep it close to my heart."

"So the boy said something and it reminded you?" Kimura asked, letting the fact she hadn't told him sooner drop.

"A couple of things." Yuuka hummed for a moment before turning and smiling at Kimura. "I like that child a lot. I just know he is meant for great things."

"Yes. I think so as well."

---

Arriving back at the Inn, Naruto had almost been run over by his teammates and Shizune.

"Are you alright?" Sakura asked.

"What did she want?" Sasuke said at the same time.

"You're not hurt, are you?" Shizune asked while pushing up his sleeves.

"What did you talk about?" Kakashi asked as he shut the door behind Naruto.

"HEY! Hold on!" Naruto called out while wrenching his arms from Shizune's grasp. "One at a time, jeez."

"Naruto, please tell us what happened." Kakashi requested as Naruto flopped down on one of the beds.

"I don't know, I mean it was really weird. She just seemed to want to talk. She asked me what Konoha was to me and then she said what Iwa was to her. She asked why I became a shinobi and told me why she became one. It was so weird." Naruto frowned as he picked at the threads in the blanket on the bed. "I don't think she's a bad person."

"No, I don't think she is, either." Shizune smiled sadly at him. "But that doesn't mean she isn't dangerous or that she won't hurt us."

"I know. For her, Iwa is everything. We're… we're the same." Naruto frowned.

"What do you mean?" Sasuke asked him. "How is she anything like you?"

"For me, Konoha is everything. I know what I would do to protect it. She'd do the same things for Iwa; only, she could do them better. She's a little scary." Naruto chuckled a little. "But she really doesn't want war."

"That's good." Shizune sighed out.

"I wonder who it is that's doing all this." Kakashi commented.

"What do you mean?" Sasuke narrowed his eyes at his teacher.

"We know Konoha isn't behind this and based on what I've seen of the Tsuchikage, I doubt Iwa is behind this."

"So a third party must being doing it." Shizune's eyes widened as she came to the conclusion.

"Right." Kakashi nodded at her. "But who?"

"Someone who wants to hurt either Konoha or Iwa. Or both." Shizune mused.

"To get rid of a Chuunin team without a trace, they'd have to be pretty strong." Sasuke pointed out.

"Or they had superior numbers." Sakura added.

"Or they're both." Naruto muttered.

"That's a chilling thought Naruto-kun." Kakashi smiled at him, eliciting glares from the gathered company.

"So, what do we do?" Sasuke asked his teacher.

"I don't think we can do anything right now." Kakashi replied with a small shake of his head. "We have to trust in Tsunade-sama and Yuuka-sama now. I'm sure neither would do anything rash, after all."

---

"Tsuchikage-sama?" A soft voice accompanied a rough tap on her doors, causing Yuuka to turn from the uninspiring view out the office's one window.

"Yes?" Yuuka called, she couldn't place the voice and that was odd. She thought she knew everyone who worked under her.

The door opened and a young Jounin stuck his head in.

"There is a messenger from the border here to see you, Tsuchikage-sama." He told her.

"I see, send him in." The Jounin turned to do so. "Wait." Yuuka called out at the last moment. "What is your name again? I apologize, but I seem to have forgotten."

"I'm Terada ma'am." The Jounin bowed his head.

"That's right." Yuuka remembered him now. He'd been suggested by someone on the council for promotion and Kimura had tested the man's skills himself and proclaimed them suitable. Actually, she thought she remembered Kimura saying the other man was impressive. It took a lot to impress Kimura. "Kimura-san said he thought you would go far in your career."

"Thank you." Terada bowed his head once again. "Shall I go get the messenger now?"

"Oh, yes, go." Yuuka waved him off and moved back to her desk to wait. She didn't have to wait long before a nervous Chuunin and Terada returned. "The message?" Yuuka asked when it seemed like the Chuunin would say nothing.

"Oh! Err, yes, ma'am. Ummm…" The Chuunin stuttered, nervously looking between Terada, the floor, and Yuuka every few seconds.

"I know most ninja aren't exactly eloquent, but I expect my messengers to at least be able to deliver a message." Yuuka narrowed her eyes slightly. Why was Miyate acting so weird?

"Yes! Sorry." Miyate bowed her head slightly. "I came to tell you that we found a headband believed to belong to one of the missing Chuunin, ma'am." She proceeded to draw a bloody and scratched headband from her hip pouch. She bowed slightly as she handed it to the small woman.

"Tell me the circumstances." The Tsuchikage demanded quickly.

"Yes. Umm, it was found in a wooded area close to the border of Earth. There appears to have been a, um, fight in the area. There were burn marks on the ground." Miyate reached a hand up to tug at her hair. "We found no signs of the others."

"Burn marks? Like a Katon?" Yuuka asked her.

"Yes ma'am." Miyate replied.

"I see." Yuuka frowned down at the band in her hand. There was something off about it, but she couldn't figure out what exactly. "Any leads as to who could have done this?"

"Tsuchikage-sama, if I might speak…" Terada interrupted. Getting a nod from Yuuka, he continued. "It would seem to me that the evidence of a Katon jutsu would suggest Konoha."

"While it is true that Konoha has the most Katon jutsu and tend to use them far more often than other nations, they are not in any way the only ones to ever use them." Yuuka told him.

"But surely it is safe to assume that--" Was as far as the man got in his argument.

"Assume nothing, you idiot." Yuuka snapped in anger. For the past three days, she'd been waiting to hear something about her missing ninja. For the past three days, she'd been hearing from all sides how she should declare war on Konoha. For the past three days, she'd slept only five hours. Yuuka was not in a pleasant mood as Terada was about to find out.

"If I had ever gone into battle with nothing more than assumptions on my side, I would not have lived to see today. All we fucking have on our side right now are damn assumptions. We assume Konoha did it. We assume our team is dead. We assume they are trying to draw us into war. I am fucking sick of hearing assumptions. Leave now! Get the hell out of my sight until you can bring me more than fucking assumptions." Yuuka snarled at Terada.

Kimura, meanwhile, had been standing guard at the doors. As soon as he heard Yuuka raise her voice, he'd appeared inside standing next to her. Kimura had known Yuuka for twenty-six years and she hardly ever swore or raised her voice. She must have been furious to do so now.

"Tsuchikage-sama you must realize---" Terada attempted again to make his point.

"I realize that you are still standing there when I told you to leave!" Yuuka made a motion to Kimura who moved to stand behind Terada. "Go now before you're thrown out."

The man did so with a dark expression on his face. Before he slipped out the doors however he turned and bowed low to Yuuka.

"Forgive me, Tsuchikage-sama, for my insubordination."

After he left, Yuuka turned back to the highly twitchy Miyake.

"Miyake-san, is something the matter?" Yuuka asked her gently, her voice much softer than earlier. "You have been acting weird the entire time you have been in here."

"I, uh, no! Nothing is wrong, Yuuka-sama." Miyake replied waving her hands back and forth slightly in an effort to convince her.

"I see." Yuuka smiled at her soothingly. "You're probably just worried about those Chuunin."

"Yes!" Miyake nearly shouted. "Er, I mean yes, I am very worried, Yuuka-sama."

"I thought so. Why don't you take the rest of the day off." Yuuka suggested.

"Thank you, Yuuka-sama." Miyake bowed before quickly making her way out the door.

Kimura watched from his position in front of the desk until the door was shut. He then turned to Yuuka who was once again staring at the headband.

"Yuuka-chan, something is not right here in Iwa." Kimura said once he finally caught her eye.

"I know." Yuuka sighed as she picked up the headband again and carried it over to Kimura. "Tell me what you see."

Kimura's eyebrows shot up as he carefully took the band from her.

"It is an Iwa band." He eventually remarked. "It is bloody and scratched."

"Where is the blood?" Yuuka prodded.

"On the band… Yuuka, I don't quite know where you are going with this." Kimura looked at her as though she were being very odd.

"Here, just give it to me." She snatched it away from him. "Now, all the Chuunin that disappeared were men about your size. Take off your band and bend down, you're too tall."

"Perhaps you're just short, Yuuka-chan." Kimura smiled as he did as she asked.

"Ha, ha. Shut-up." Yuuka made a face at him. "Now, as I tie this on you properly," She then did so, "I can tell one thing. There is no way blood could have gotten on the headband in the pattern it did naturally. The blood falls right over where you knot it. There would have been spots where the blue wasn't covered by blood."

"It was planted." Kimura's eyes widened as he came to the conclusion.

"Yes."

"That Chuunin girl--"

"Was probably threatened. You saw how she acted." Yuuka sighed as she slipped the headband off Kimura's black hair. "She was nervous, jumpy, and afraid."

"Terada…"

"Yes, no doubt Terada is playing a part in this. But he can't be doing it alone." Yuuka slammed a fist onto her desk, causing papers and pens to jump. "Damn it! I hate this feeling! I'm afraid to do anything. I fear that one wrong step will cause the floor to crumble from beneath me."

"Mole." Kimura interjected softly.

"What?" Yuuka turned her eyes from her desk back to him.

"Mole has been acting odd as well." Kimura told her. "Whenever I relieve him at guard duty he always seems hesitant and he keeps asking about your orders regarding them, although he should know that if their were new orders he would receive them immediately."

"So far we have Mole and Terada, but there must be others." Yuuka sighed as she massaged her forehead. "Bring to me Shizune-san and the others please. I want to discuss this with them."

"Of course." Kimura left via opening the window and jumping down, no doubt wanting to take the fastest route possible.

Yuuka sighed again as she sat in her chair. Today couldn't be over soon enough for her.

---

Somehow, Kakashi had convinced one of the guards to bring them a Mah Jong set and after he and Sasuke had explained the rules to Sakura—Naruto having already known how to play—they commenced with playing numerous rounds of the game.

So far, Naruto had one 23 times and Kakashi once. The rest had yet to win.

"Why even this!?" Sakura had screamed while throwing a tile at Naruto's head. Naruto ducked and the tile bounced off the wall behind him.

"I'm sorry! If it's a game of chance in any way, I just can't lose!" Naruto tried to defend himself while dodging more tiles.

Kakashi had merely whipped out his book once again and Sasuke had walked over to Shizune to see what she was working on.

"This is just a scroll I've been trying to write." Shizune told him when he asked, ignoring Naruto and Sakura. She had finally learned it was pointless to try and stop them. "It's an instruction manual for some basic chakra exercises that medics need to know. Surprisingly, there isn't really any good instruction on them."

"Oh, I see. It must be pretty boring." Sasuke remarked politely. Inwardly however, he was wondering why he'd even bothered to ask. Hearing a crash from behind him he recalled it was so he could block out his teammates antics.

"No not---" Shizune didn't get a chance to finish as the door to Kakashi's room was flung open.

Everyone in the room stopped what they were doing in order to stare at the man in the doorway.

Kimura stood there breathing hard and looking furious. He walked two steps into the room and stopped, staring at them all. Kakashi had stood from his position on the floor where they'd been playing and came to stand only a few paces in front of the Iwa nin.

"Where is Mole?" Kimura demanded of them.

"We don't know. Isn't he out there?" Kakashi replied evenly.

"No." Kimura stated. "But his blood is."

Kakashi felt his eyebrows shoot up in alarm before he tried to see around Kimura into the hall.

"I assure you we had nothing to do with this." Shizune interjected as she swiftly stood from her seat at the desk.

"I don't doubt it." Kimura told her. "You would have to be incredibly stupid to try something like that now. The fact that you heard nothing however…"

"Mole was ANBU. He would have put up one hell of a fight. It's doubtful he was snuck up on either." Kakashi reasoned out loud.

"Yes. We had already feared that Mole was working against Iwa. This proves it. Obviously, they wanted to cast suspicion on you. It seems they are vastly underestimating our intelligence." Kimura agreed.

"That means they are making their move now, right?" Naruto spoke from beside Kakashi.

"Ye---" Was as far as Kakashi got in his reply before an angry curse drowned him out.

"SHIT!" Kimura swore before running to the window only to throw it wide open. "Yuuka!" He jumped up to the ledge before turning back to the Konoha shinobi. "Stay here or follow. I am no longer responsible for your actions." With that, he quickly shunshined his way towards the Administration Building.

"Well, what are we going to do Kakashi-sensei?" Sasuke asked after the man had left.

"Let's head towards the Tsuchikage's office. I want to know just what is going on here." Kakashi ordered.

"Right!"

---

Yuuka jerked her head up as soon as she heard the doors begin to open. While she was expecting Kimura's return soon, he always made sure to knock around others, stating that a certain amount of professionalism had to be maintained despite their history together.

Yuuka was surprised to see a disheveled and panicked Terada standing in front of her desk.

"Tsuchikage-sama! The captured Konoha nin have attacked Mole and seem to be attempting to escape." Terada burst out as soon as he was sure he had her attention.

"Oh really?" Yuuka replied thoughtfully while slowly and carefully sliding out from behind her desk. "And what would you recommend I do, Terada-san?"

"Obviously, we must capture them and execute them. Konoha must be made to pay for their offense." Terada explained a little more calmly.

"I see." Yuuka had by this point made it over to the window in her office. "And just what offense would that be, Terada-san? Attacking Mole, although I doubt they did. Trying to escape, although I doubt they did that, either. Our vanished Chuunin, perhaps? Although, part of me wonders if they really have disappeared. Or maybe their offense would be winning a war fourteen years ago." She leveled a nasty gaze at Terada who was now standing proud and tall, no longer looking panicked or distressed.

"Ah, I see you have figured it out, Tsuchikage-sama." Terada replied calmly.

"Some, yes. Not completely. I don't, for instance, know why you would care so much. You're, what—twenty? Not really old enough to care about that old war. I also don't know how you did all that you did. Nor can I think of who else would be a party to your little betrayal." Yuuka told him.

"Well, we all know you didn't get your position through your intellect." Yuuka snarled at his statement. "Now, now, surely you must concede that? You became Tsuchikage due to your monstrous strength in battle. But that's all you got going for you. Everyone knows that it's really Kimura who runs things around here."

"You're wrong! Kimura is a trusted advisor who--"

"Oh yes, we all know just how trusted Kimura is. At first we thought he might be willing to aide us in our endeavors, but really he is just too loyal. He lies like a dog at your feet, doing anything you command of him. But still, he was always the clever one, wasn't he? I have no doubt that he was also the one behind all of your victorious schemes as general."

"You are a traitorous bastard." Yuuka sneered. "And you have no idea what you are talking about."

"Whatever. I'm afraid the time for talking is over, though. You need to die now." Terada smiled politely at her. "If you'd only done what we wanted and started a war, this wouldn't have had to happen."

"I hate people who lie to me. I hate people who try to manipulate me. But most of all, I hate any who would dare to threaten MY Iwa!" The Tsuchikage snarled at the Jounin in front of her before quickly unhooking her earrings and ripping off her necklace. Once that was done, she callously tossed them to the side as she slid gracefully into the starting stance of her most ruthless style, Lion Fight Boxing.

"I will show you just what happens to those that I hate." She sneered nastily. "I hope you are prepared to meet the gods."

"I won't be the one to meet them today, dear Tsuchikage-sama." He replied. "But didn't you want to know my reasons first?"

"I no longer find it in me to care." Yuuka replied. "Your reasons don't matter. Now, shut up and prepare to fight, otherwise it would be nothing more than slaughter."

"As you command, Tsuchikage-sama." Terada bowed his head mockingly before swiftly launching several kunai at Yuuka.

Yuuka slid to the left on the balls of her feet and scowled as she heard the kunai embed themselves into her wall with soft thuds. She then pushed off with her right leg to close the distance between her and Terada.

Terada fluidly moved to the right to dodge Yuuka's fierce launch and raised another kunai to attempt to lodge it in the back of Yuuka's neck.

Sensing Terada's movement, Yuuka ducked low, twirled around gracefully on one leg, and wrapped her arms around Terada's outstretched left one. She quickly drove her left elbow into Terada's forearm as she kept her right arm in a grapple hold to keep it outstretched.

Yuuka smiled in victory thinking that she had managed to over extend his elbow and snap his arm, but her face quickly changed to confusion before she was thrown back into a wall.

"Sorry, but that won't work." Terada told her with a smile. "Did you forget my family's Kekkei Genkai?"

"Of course. How could I have forgotten." Yuuka replied bitterly as she slowly stood back up. "The Terada clan can bend all of their joints three hundred and sixty degrees."

"That's right. That strike you used counts on the locking action of an extended elbow, but my elbow can extend beyond a straight line." He was interrupted from the rest of his speech by a kunai being thrown from the door that had just been thrown open.

"Terada!" Kimura shouted. "You traitor!" He moved to engage Terada but was stopped by Yuuka.

"Kimura! Stand down!" Yuuka ordered. "He is _mine_." She took two steps forward and once again slid down into the starting stance of Lion Fight Boxing.

"Trying that again, Tsuchikage-sama?" Terade smirked. "It won't work."

"You obviously know nothing of Lion Fight Boxing." Kimura laughed at him as the Konoha shinobi made it to his side and stared at the scene in front of them.

"What's Lion Fight Boxing?" Naruto asked him.

"It's a very old, very ruthless style. Long ago it was developed in a land far from here. It got its name because men used to use it to fight with lions using nothing but their bare hands." Kimura explained.

"That's right." Yuuka conceded. "Now, come and let me kill you." She ran at Terada and jumped, swinging an elbow at his head.

Terada smirked as he reached up to catch the elbow in his hand, but his expression quickly turned to shock when and enormous pain went through his arm. He dropped Yuuka's elbow and jumped back away from her, cradling his arm the entire time.

"What the hell?" He asked in disbelief, seeing the arm, and especially the elbow, swell up.

"Are you some kind of idiot?" Yuuka tilted her head at him. "I am, after all, Tsuchikage. And according to you, I got it through brute strength alone. Surely you could have guessed that I would be able to snap bones with a mere strike."

"You use chakra to--" Terada began.

"No. I use hardly any chakra when it comes to fighting. Unlike the Godaime Hokage, my strength is truly natural. I can crush boulders in one strike, without the aide of chakra." Yuuka smirked before launching herself at him again.

This time, she stopped a foot in front of him and twisted up on one leg to deliver a knee to his side. Terada blocked once again with his other arm, using chakra to soften the blow. Yuuka remained unperturbed and leapt up to deliver a crushing blow to his clavicle with her left elbow. Before gravity could bring her down again, she slammed her head into his; causing him to cry out.

Terada leapt back away from her and began a string of clumsy seals before shouting out the name of the jutsu.

"Doton: Kakutou Daichi Te!" He stomped once on the floor and several earthen ropes shot out towards Yuuka.

Yuuka snarled at him as she set to destroying them all with hands, elbows, knees, shins, feet, and whatever else she could use to strike blows.

"Woah." Sakura commented from the doorway. "She's amazing."

"This is why she is Tsuchikage." Kimura commented before turning away. "Come on. Yuuka can handle it. We need to check on the people here." They had discovered that everyone in the building had been lying on the ground as they made their way towards the office.

"Don't worry. They're fine." Shizune said from her place next to a guard she'd been checking over. "It's a very powerful Genjutsu that knocks people out. They must have a Genjutsu expert on their side."

"Neither Mole nor Terada are Genjutsu specialists." Kimura frowned.

"Can you think of someone who is and might want to overthrow the Tsuchikage?" Kakashi asked.

"Just one. The only one who could have done this. But Daigo-sama is an elder on the council." Kimura rubbed at his forehead before a crash was heard behind them.

They all turned in time to see Yuuka clinging to Terada her right arm wrapped around his left and her left twisted around his neck. Yuuka swiftly bent her neck to tear at Terada's arteries with her teeth. Terada managed to fling her away but not before she managed to rip out a piece of his throat, unfortunately not an artery though.

She scowled as she spit onto the floor.

"What the hell are you, you crazy bitch!" Terada screamed at her as he placed a hand over the wound.

"In Lion Fight Boxing, everything is a weapon, including teeth." Yuuka breathed heavily through her nose. "All that matters is bringing down my enemy."

"You're insane!" Terada accused. Yuuka laughed at him.

"Probably. Stop stalling. It's time I killed you." Yuuka growled.

"Don't!" Kimura cried from the door behind her. "We need him alive, Yuuka-chan. Just incapacitate him."

"Damn." Yuuka swore. "He's right. Oh well, I can have more fun with you if you're not dead."

"You won't get the chance." Terada announced before letting a round of shuriken go at her.

She dodged them only to hear cries of surprise from behind her. She turned her head around to see that Kimura and Kakashi had blocked most of them but Naruto had had to jump in front of Sakura to protect her from three. Two ended up in an arm he'd thrown up to block his face and a third embedded itself in the boy's stomach.

"Naruto!" Sakura shouted as he crouched down. She followed him to the floor and tugged at his uninjured shoulder trying to get him to turn around. "Why did you do that!?"

"You would have gotten hit." Naruto told her. "I can take more damage, remember?" Kakashi had pretty much told them that Naruto should soak up as much damage from his team as possible.

"Still!" A great thud and a shaking wall caused everyone to turn their attention away again.

"Yuuka!" Kimura screamed out.

Terada had taken advantage of Yuuka's distraction to knock her into the wall with a powerful kick to the head. He wasn't done however, as he jumped on top of her with a kunai aimed at her heart. Yuuka managed to twist to avoid it but it still wound up in her right shoulder.

Three kunai launched by Kimura forced Terada up and off her before he could finish the job. Kimura attempted to run into the room only to be grabbed by the back of his shirt. Turning he was surprised to see Yuuka standing behind him, kunai still in her shoulder and blood streaming down her head from a wound.

"Stop." She paused to spit out some blood. "He's mine." She released him and he stepped back towards where Shizune was frantically working on healing Naruto.

Yuuka stepped up to face Terada and roughly yanked the kunai out of her shoulder.

"That hurt, you fucking son of a bitch." She told him calmly before she seemingly disappeared. She reappeared behind Terada and slammed the kunai sideways into his own shoulder, shattering the joint. "You dropped your kunai." She told him before jumping and twisting to hit him in the head with her shin.

Terada was pushed forward into her desk but before he could turn around, Yuuka was there again and bashing his forehead onto the wood surface. He cried out as stars exploded in front of his eyes, but did not lose consciousness. Seeing this, Yuuka slammed his head down again, slightly harder, drawing blood and knocking him out once and for all. She sighed as she let him go and he collapsed ungracefully onto the floor.

"Is Naruto-kun okay?" Yuuka asked as she stepped over Terada's body and towards the group.

"I'm fine!" Naruto cheered from his place on the floor between Shizune and Sakura.

"Fine my foot!" Sakura called out as she roughly wrenched his shirt up to take a look at the wound in his stomach. "You got hit… what's this?" Her angry tone turned to confusion seeing black markings on Naruto's stomach. She reached out a hand to touch it, but Naruto reacted and violently flung himself away from her.

"It's nothing! Don't touch!" He screamed at her. Now everyone was looking at him oddly except for Kakashi and Shizune. Shizune had quickly moved to hover her green glowing hands over Naruto's stomach, effectively blocking everyone's view.

"But the child is okay?" Yuuka persisted.

"He's fine. You're not!" Kimura's own hand started to glow and he placed it over the gash in Yuuka's head.

"That's right, Yamamoto-sama." Shizune said as she finished with Naruto. "We should get you to a hospital."

"No." Yuuka disagreed. "If I were to go to the hospital it would show weakness. I'm fine. I can still stand and I can still fight. You're a medic-nin, though; do you think you could take care of my shoulder?"

"Of course, Yamamoto-sama." Shizune bowed her head before stepping forward to lead Yuuka to a chair so she could examine the wound.

"Kimura, you deal with Terada. Take him to interrogation." Yuuka ordered.

"And the others, Yuuka-sama?" Kimura asked stiffly, not happy that Yuuka would not be going to the hospital.

"Don't you use that tone with me. I know you think I should go to the hospital, but I have an image to maintain." Yuuka told him. "What others?" She asked.

"Those inside the building have been knocked out by a powerful Genjutsu." Kimura told her with a sigh.

"I guess that explains what happened to my guards." Yuuka groaned as Shizune began tightly wrapping her shoulder. "Hatake-san, would you and your students mind going around and dispelling the Genjutsu on my people for me?"

"No, Yamamoto-sama, we don't mind." They turned to leave but stopped when Yuuka called out to them.

"Wait!" Yuuka turned to Kimura. "Give them some tags." Kimura nodded and walked around the desk to open a drawer. Digging around for a while he came up with four small gold medallions engraved with the Kanji for 'official' on them. "Show these to them if they question you."

"Thank you." Kakashi bowed before taking them from Kimura.

"Damn. This is going to take forever to get situated." Yuuka sighed before a thought occurred to her. "FUCK! This means mountains of paperwork!"

Shizune sighed as she began treating Yuuka's bruised knuckles.

---

Three days later and most of the plot had been worked out.

It appeared that Terada had been the ring leader. He felt that if there were war, he could quickly climb up the ranks and eventually become Tsuchikage himself. Others in his group, which included approximately fifteen people ranging from Chuunin to ANBU in rank, either wanted to get revenge on Konoha, having been a part of the first war, or had been promised status and wealth if they helped.

Yuuka was excited because she could finally prove that Daigo was plotting against her and was able to strip him of his position on the council.

They'd also received word that her Chuunin team had never vanished. Mole had forged the note. Mole had been caught trying to escape Iwa after faking his death. He, too, soon found accommodations in Yuuka's interrogation cell.

Two and a half days after the fight and a messenger from Konoha had arrived. Apparently, the Genin team from Konoha had taken a wrong turn and then gotten trapped in a landslide near some ridges to the northwest of Konoha. The conspirators had merely jumped on their chance when presented.

The Konoha nin were to return home, but to their surprise, Yuuka, Kimura, and a half dozen others were to accompany them to the border.

"Your Hokage was going to meet you and so I sent a note asking to meet with her myself. I wish to apologize in person for this whole affair. Particularly, for putting you in danger and for Naruto-kun getting harmed in the crossfire." Yuuka had told them when she met them at the gates.

"Ee, don't worry about it Yuuka-chan." Naruto told her. "I'm okay."

There was a moment of silence as everyone stared at him.

"Did you just call me Yuuka-chan?" Yuuka asked what everyone was thinking.

"Eh? Oh, I guess so." Naruto shrugged. "Is that a problem?"

"No, I suppose it's not, Naruto-kun." Yuuka blinked slightly before smiling at him widely. "Well, let's head out!" She directed at her shinobi.

A day later and they were at the agreed upon location. Tsunade stood at the border with Gai, Kurenai, and Asuma, and their teams at her side.

"Baa-chan!" Naruto cried out when he saw her and quickly leapt ahead from everyone else to greet her. A rock flew out of no where to hit him in the head right before a pair of arms encircled him.

"What the hell did I tell you about calling me that, you twerp?" She said even as she proceeded to hug the life out of him.

"G-gah!" Naruto choked out.

The Konoha nin all just rolled their eyes or shook their heads, too used to it to really be surprised. The Iwa nin however, where staring rather blatantly, (except Yuuka who chuckled at the sight.)

"Cute." She muttered to Kimura who nodded while holding back a snort of laughter.

Eventually, Tsunade was persuaded to drop Naruto before he could die of oxygen deprivation. The blonde woman then turned to the short brown haired one and proceeded to give her the once over.

"So, I suppose you are the Tsuchikage, Yamamoto Yuuka?" Tsunade asked blandly.

"That's right, and you must be Tsunade, the Sannin and Hokage, or as Naruto-kun would say, Baa-chan?" She smiled when Tsunade's expression turned dark.

"Twerp! Look what you've done." She grabbed Naruto around the neck but refrained from giving him a noogie due to the present company.

"No, please don't be offended. Naruto-kun's love and loyalty to you, indeed his love and loyalty to Konoha, impressed me greatly." Yuuka smiled at the blonde boy currently fighting to get out of Tsunade's grasp. "I look forward to the day this one becomes Hokage. I think that sort of thing is entirely possible. I have no doubts."

"Yes, well, Naruto is very important to our future." Tsunade eventually replied, raising a brow.

"All children are." Yuuka agreed. "Although, he isn't much a child anymore. I don't think he has been for a long time."

"What do you mean?" Tsunade straightened up, suddenly defensive.

"Nothing. Just that this boy speaks and acts like an adult whenever it comes to defending Konoha." Yuuka soothed. "He is all you could want in a shinobi."

"I know that. You don't have to tell me." Tsunade said with a light smile.

"I'm sure." Yuuka bowed her head. "As to the reason I'm here. I wanted to apologize in person for what has occurred. Your country and your people have experienced worry, trouble, and injury due to the actions of some of the shinobi under my direction, despite the fact they were traitors. I just wish you to know that Iwa will make whatever reparations you see fit and we hope this won't influence any future dealings with your nation."

"Wait, injury? Who got hurt?" Tsunade frowned as she turned to Shizune. Nothing like that was mentioned in the letter they sent a couple of days ago.

"We didn't want to worry you, Tsunade-sama." Shizune said. "After all, it was only minor."

"I think taking three shuriken for your teammate is something more than minor. Naruto-kun did a noble thing." Yuuka commented.

Tsunade's eyes widened and she quickly turned Naruto around to face her.

"You're hurt?" She asked quickly activating a diagnostic jutsu to check for her self.

"No, I _was_ hurt. I'm fine now, Baa-chan." Naruto attempted to knock her hand away as it came near him.

"What happened?" Tsunade asked Shizune not paying any attention to Naruto. "No, tell me later, in Konoha." She stood and faced Yuuka again.

"Your apology has been noted and information will be sent regarding reparations. We assure you that we will not hold this against you in future dealings." Tsunade bowed her head and Yuuka returned it.

"Thank you." Yuuka replied as she straightened. "We will be taking our leave now." She turned to nod at her shinobi. Before they left, she turned back towards Naruto. "It was nice to meet you, Naruto-kun. Remember, I expect great things from you, you with your too blonde hair, and too blue eyes, and too great a will to be beaten." She smiled at him and he smiled back.

"Sure thing, Yuuka-chan!" He called out.

Yuuka laughed as Tsunade hit him over the head for being rude and gave him a wave as she raced off with Kimura by her side and the rest of her nin close behind her.

"Man, I'm glad that's over." Sasuke announced as they started back to Konoha.

"Me, too." Sakura agreed. They and everyone else ignored the sounds of Naruto and their Hokage arguing behind them. Everything would be back to order again, soon…

Psh, yeah, right. What can ever stay normal for too long with Naruto around?

---

**OMAKE: Atsuko in the Sand, or Atsuko Meets Gaara**

The Chuunin who had accompanied Atsuko to Suna were nearly at the point of murder. The only thing that stayed their hand was the thought of what Gaara might do to them for killing the woman who might help him sleep.

Although, a few more hours with her and they might not have cared.

Upon reaching Suna, Atsuko had absolutely nothing nice to say about it.

"This is the so called Jewel of the Desert?" She said wrinkling her nose. "It's far too dusty, and dirty, and—and, _beige _to be called a jewel."

"I'm sorry you feel that way, Atsuko-sama." The Chuunin in charge said through gritted teeth.

"Whatever. Lead me to the brat so I can do what I came here for and leave." She frowned as she placed a hand to her now rather large chest. She'd changed her appearance on the way there to a short busty black haired, dark skinned woman. "I don't think this place agrees with me much."

"Of course, Atsuko-sama." The Chuunin replied.

He led her to the house Gaara and his siblings inhabited and quickly left; not wanting to be around either Atsuko or Gaara.

Atsuko merely shrugged after him and pounded loudly on the door. She continued to do so for three minutes, not waiting for someone to open the door.

A tall blonde girl flung the door open and snarled at her. "What?"

"About time, sheesh, took you long enough." Atsuko replied as she elbowed her way in.

"Who the hell are you?!" Temari asked, pushing the strange woman back before she could get in.

"I'm the fan-freaking-tastic Sajiki Atsuko." Atsuko told her with a sneer. "Now move. It's too hot out here."

"Oh! Sajiki-sama!" Temari quickly scuttled back. "You came!"

"Of course I came." Atsuko looked at her as though she were slow. "I would have come years ago if not for that retard of a Kage you had."

"…" Temari debated taking offense but decided it would be pointless.

"I'll go get Gaara." Was all she said as she made her way upstairs.

"Fine." Atsuko then proceeded towards the kitchen, intent on fixing herself something to drink.

Once in the kitchen, she ran into an oddly dressed boy wearing what appeared to be make-up. He hadn't noticed her come in.

"Why the hell are you wearing make-up?" Atsuko asked him bluntly.

"It's not make-up it's…." Kankuro got a good look at her. "Who're you?" He smiled in what he thought was a charming manner at her.

"I'm the great and wonderful Sajiki Atsuko, Make-up-kun." She gave him a thumbs-up before turning towards the fridge and taking out a bottle of water.

"I'm Kankuro! Not Make-up-kun!" He protested.

"Whatever." Atsuko shrugged.

"There you are, Sajiki-sama." Temari said as she entered, Gaara following placidly behind her.

"Call me Atsuko." She replied. "And you must be Tanuki-kun." Atsuko nodded in Gaara's direction. "Well, let's go get started then."

"Gaara. Not Tanuki." Was what Gaara said in response.

"Whatever." Atsuko shrugged again. "Show me the seal."

Gaara narrowed his eyes at her but did as she said. Atsuko leaned in close to inspect it before pulling back and nodding her head.

"Just as I thought." She held her chin in her hand in a thinking pose. "Nothing I can do. That'll be 15,000 ryou please." She held out her hand for the money.

"What?" Temari looked at her eyes wide and mouth hanging.

"It's not that the seal is weak." Atsuko explained. "It's just the type of seal isn't the best."

"What do you mean?" Gaara frowned at her.

"Look, this seal was _designed_ to allow the Jinchuuriki to be controlled by the demon—unless the Jinchuuriki wills it not to. The reason Shuukaku takes over when you sleep is 'cuz it's hard to maintain our will when we dream. Whoever put this seal on you, they weren't trying to get rid of the demon; they were making a weapon." She looked closely at him. "Although you already knew this, I'm sure. As long as your will can hold out against the demon, you have nothing to worry about."

"So, I still can't sleep, though." Gaara looked down at the floor.

"Sorry. That's just the way things go. To be honest, your seal is better than some of the ones I've seen place on Jinchuuriki." Atsuko shook her head. "Now, pay me so I can leave. This desert air is bad for my heart."

"Very well, Temari, pay her." Gaara ordered before turning to leave.

"Wait. I almost forgot." Atsuko called to him. "If you see anyone in black cloaks with red clouds kill first and ask questions later."

"Right." Was all Gaara said as he made his way out of the kitchen.

"Talkative." Atsuko commented before turning back to Temari. "Now, where's my money?"

---

**Author's Note Reprise: **Dear God! This was too long. Never ever again! 12000 words are just too many! Anyways, the length and an upper respiratory infection delayed this chapter, but I hope you like it.

Also: Your guesses were fun to read.

Sorry about the lack of quality for this omake. I was too tired to be funny. Next time will be better. At least you get to see Gaara and Atsuko, right?

Due to the amount of reviews I've upped the amount need to get an omake by another ten. I have no doubt you'll make it still.

**Snicky's Note! **:drops dead::

**Taijutsu Notes:**

**Lion Fight Boxing**

While this is partially based on a real style (Bokator) it's also highly made up because I don't have enough knowledge about this style to accurately portray it. This style focuses on breaking bones and knocking your opponent into submission. Almost every body part, including the head, jaw, fingers, and shoulder can be used to strike. Grappling techniques are used a lot. Fighters can fight standing, bending, jumping, sitting, or even laying on the ground. It was originally used by soldiers in war hundreds of years ago. It's a pretty ruthless style.

**Jutsu Notes:**

Doton: Kakutou Daichi Te (Earth Style: Grappling Earthen Hands) - This B-rank skill calls up ropes up earth to grab your enemy or fling them around.

**PREVIEW:**

"Baa-chan?" Naruto asked to get her attention, his voice unusually soft and hesitant.

"Is something wrong, Naruto?" She asked as she looked up from her paperwork, not even bothering to berate him for calling her that.

"I was wondering…" Naruto trailed off. Suddenly he squared his shoulders and gathered his courage, in a stronger voice he continued. "I think it's time I told my team about the Kyuubi and I wanted to you be there when I did."

**I now have a forum for this story. Please post questions there cause if you have one, others will too. Suggestions are also welcomed and loved. Link is in my profile.**

**REVIEW OR I'LL EAT YOU! RAWGH! 65 Reviews Gets An OMAKE!**

**ALSO: **Would anybody like to write for me a one shot featuring any or all of my OCs (Yuuka, Atsuko, Kimura)? Do so and I will write for you a 2000 word or longer one shot of your choice! Feel free to go crazy if you do, I want to see what you can come up with.


	16. Chapter 16

**An Alternative Path **

**Author's note: **Well I'm glad the last chapter didn't disappoint, although some of you were confused that it wasn't Orochi behind the plots. All I can say to that is that I do have a plan for Orochi, just wait.

Anyways: I'm sorry it's taken me so freakin' long to get this out.. Fact is writing this chapter was so god awful! It was like beating my head against a wall over and over expecting to get a different result each time. I'm not sure why but this chapter was total hell!

**ALSO: I NOW HAVE A FORUM. PLEASE USE IT. I HATE ANSWERING THE SAME QUESTIONS OVER AND OVER AND FREAKIN' OVER AGAIN! ****(although I still will)**

I hope that is suitable noticeable enough to get your attention.

**ALSO: I got **_**151**_ **reviews for the last chapter, plus about 15 more from people reading the others for the first time. Can I just say, holy mountain of reviews Batman! Due to this awesomeness, and the fact that we will undoubtedly hit 1000 reviews shortly I'll be posting a short AAP side story oneshot sometime before the next chapter comes out.**

**Also: The 1000****th**** review poster will get a oneshot of their choice from me!**

**IMPORTANT: **This story is AU. That means ALTERNATE UNIVERSE. That means I can do whatever the hell I want and you have to suck it up and deal.

**BTW: **I don't own Naruto! I do however own Sajiki Atsuko, Yamamoto Yuuka, and Kimura Shuu. You can borrow them if you give me credit.

**A Secret, A Fox, And Some Training**

Sasuke was a little put out when it became apparent that he was the only one waiting at the bridge that day. Sakura, he figured, was probably still at the hospital, no doubt roughly setting some poor fool's bones. Naruto, however, he had no clue as to the whereabouts of. Kakashi had left him after morning training to get lunch and had yet to arrive as well, although that was singularly _un_surprising.

He mumbled to himself unflattering things about tardy senseis and orange wearing idiots (who admittedly didn't wear much orange anymore after Tsunade 'accidentally' shredded most of his clothes). He did not dare say anything rude about Sakura however because Sakura had ears like a cat and kicked very hard.

When Kakashi poofed onto the railing in front of him from who knows where, Sasuke didn't even blink. This was far too common an occurrence.

"Well, at least you're here but the Dobe and Sakura still aren't." Sasuke commented blandly.

"Oh, well Jiraiya came back unexpectedly today so Naruto's with him working on seals. I don't know why Sakura isn't here, though." Kakashi looked around lazily as though she might appear out of thin air.

"We could check the hospital." Sasuke suggested.

"Wonderful idea, Sasuke-kun!" Kakashi smiled that one-eyed smile of his and walked off towards the hospital.

On the way there they ran into Jiraiya carrying a moaning and dizzy Naruto over his shoulder.

"Hello, Jiraiya-sama. What happened to Naruto?" Kakashi greeted while stooping to get a closer look at Naruto's face.

"Just a little accident with a seal. Nothing major. I just want to make sure he doesn't have a concussion or something." Jiraiya shrugged his shoulders causing Naruto's moaning to grow louder.

"We were on our way to see Sakura so we'll walk with you." Kakashi said as they all started off again.

Once there, they all by-passed the secretary at the front desk, completely ignoring her calls to them to stop and sign in. Jiraiya chose an empty room seemingly at random and dumped Naruto on the bed before turning to leave.

"Wait, what about Naruto?" Sasuke stopped him. "Shouldn't we get a doctor?"

"Where do you think I'm going kid?" Jiraiya asked. "I'm gonna go find Shizune or Tsunade."

Sasuke nodded while inwardly slapping his forehead. Kakashi seemed to have completely forgotten about seeing Sakura as he leaned up against the wall and whipped out Icha Icha Tactics. Sasuke debated going to look for her on his own but decided he might as well wait and see about Naruto.

It wasn't long before Shizune came running into the room; Jiraiya walking in a moment later much more sedately.

"What happened, Jiraiya-sama?" Shizune asked even as she began examining Naruto. She lifted an eyelid to check his eyes and then placed two fingers on his wrist to get his pulse.

"He was attempting to do the Kinmuchiteate Makura. It didn't quite go right." Jiraiya told her with a shrug. He wasn't worried, he knew Naruto would be fine.

"What's going on?" A voice from the door way caused them to turn. Sakura stood there looking confused until she noticed Naruto on the bed. "Naruto? What happened?" She stepped into the room and up to the bed.

"Nothing. Training accident." Jiraiya grunted.

"Will he be okay, Shizune-san?" Sakura ignored Jiraiya totally.

"Yes. He's just a little dizzy and confused from the seal going badly. The Kinmuchiteate Makura when not performed correctly can cause shifts of bright lights and total darkness as well as swirling colors. It's very disorienting." Shizune explained to her.

"What's the Kinmuchiteate Makura?" Sakura asked even as she nodded to show she understood the diagnosis.

"It's a seal that's written on the ground. Those standing inside the seal experience total darkness. They basically become blind." Naruto mumbled in answer to her question. Naruto was quickly becoming more grounded and less nauseous.

"And you did it wrong?" Sakura asked him.

"Yeah." Naruto groaned out.

"What did he do wrong?" Sakura turned to Jiraiya.

"Just was off on some size variables. Math stuff. A little physics." Jiraiya shrugged like it was no big deal.

"Physics?" Sasuke couldn't help the slight face he made. Sakura mirrored him only stronger in expression.

"Fuinjutsu isn't like most Ninjutsu or Genjutsu where to make it bigger or more effective you just pump in more chakra. You can't make a Kinmuchiteate seal take up more space just by writing it bigger. Well you can but it's not practical in battle. Instead, you change the design of the seal to specify the area. Naruto didn't do it right and _that_ happened." Jiraiya pointed to where Naruto had flung an arm over his eyes to block out the light.

"Shut up, I'll get it next time." Naruto's voice was muffled by his arm.

"Sure. But in the meantime, study those scrolls more." Jiraiya admonished him before turning and leaving the room, off to do research no doubt.

"God! I hate those things. I can hear her voice while I read them and it pisses me off." Naruto complained.

"Stop complaining." Sakura admonished him. "I need to go check up on another patient. See you later." She too exited with Sasuke and Kakashi following her as they each waved goodbye.

"You can rest here until you feel better, Naruto-kun." Shizune said after checking him over one last time. "I'll make sure no one disturbs you."

With that, she got up and left, flipping the light switch on her way out, leaving Naruto on the bed with his arm still flung up over his eyes.

---

It wasn't easy sneaking out of a hidden village hospital. The security was, after all, pretty tight. Oddly enough, it was only regarding patients leaving the hospital, not people getting in. Undoubtedly, this is due to the fact that shinobi as a general rule hate being in hospitals, even when they really need to be.

So, it was hard for Naruto to make his way out of the hospital without anyone alerting Shizune, but he managed it.

Why was he sneaking out? One, he hated the smell of hospitals. Two, he already felt all better. And three, he wanted to go see Tsunade, but didn't want anyone _knowing_ he was going to see Tsunade.

Half-way to the Hokage tower and he realized that _no one would have cared _if he wanted to see Tsunade.

Suddenly his daring escape from the evil clutches of the hospital seemed just a little silly. But like most times when he realized he'd done something foolish he shrugged it off and merely vowed not to do it again.

(Who was he kidding? He'd sneak out of the hospital again just for fun.)

He took the stairs two at a time up to Tsunade's office. He could have just scaled the wall and gone through the window but the last time he did that he'd surprised Tsunade, and Tsunade tended to react violently when surprised.

He nodded to the two Chuunin guards who waved him into the office. He was embarrassed to find that his hand actually shook a little as he made to push open the heavy door to Tsunade's inner sanctum.

"Baa-chan?" Naruto asked to get her attention, his voice unusually soft and hesitant.

"Is something wrong, Naruto?" She asked as she looked up from her paperwork, not even bothering to berate him for calling her that.

"I was wondering…" Naruto trailed off. Suddenly he squared his shoulders and gathered his courage, in a stronger voice he continued. "I think it's time I told my team about the Kyuubi and I wanted to you be there when I did it."

Tsunade instantly put down her pen and got up from her desk. She walked over to Naruto and crouched down in front of him, grasping his upper arms in her hands.

"Are you sure you want to do this now?" Tsunade asked him mildly, not wanting to show too much concern and make him change his mind.

"Yes, I… I think it's important." Naruto replied firmly.

"I see. And what made you decide to tell them now?" Tsunade cocked her head at him in curiosity.

"You remember when you gave us that mission to escort that crazy Fuinjutsu lady to the border of Wind Country?" Tsunade nodded at him in reply. "Some things she said to me got me thinking and…she was right."

"Naruto, you're going to have to back up. What did she say?" Tsunade asked him.

"Yeah, what did Atsuko-chan say to you?" Jiraiya asked from the window.

Tsunade whirled around with a light gasp.

"JIRAIYA! STOP SNEAKING IN THROUGH THE WINDOW!" Tsunade yelled at him. Her hand twitched as she looked around for something to throw at him. Unfortunately, she didn't have anything handy at the moment.

"Heh, but you're reactions are always so funny, Tsunade-hime." Jiraiya laughed at her.

"Oh yeah? Next time we'll see your reaction to being punched clear to the Hokage Monument, understand?" Tsunade waved a threatening fist at him.

Jiraiya gulped and nodded briskly.

"Okay, back to Naruto." Tsunade said as she promptly turned around and began ignoring Jiraiya. "What did Atsuko-san say to you?"

"I don't want to go into it all, 'cause that would take too long and be a pain, but essentially she told me that this group called the Aka-something is after all the Bijuu, which means they're after me, and that it wouldn't be fair not to tell my teammates since they might be in danger because of me, and that I'd never given my teammates any reason to hate me before so they probably wouldn't now." Naruto explained quickly using several rather unique hand gestures to illustrate his words.

"Back up." Jiraiya said holding up and hand. "You said Aka-something. Do you mean the Akatsuki?"

"Yeah, that sounds right, I guess." Naruto shrugged his shoulders.

"How would Atsuko know about that?" Jiraiya asked him, narrowing his eyes suspiciously.

"I guess that one dude told her." Naruto shrugged again. Jiraiya was almost at the point of throttling him.

"Naruto, please explain in detail what happened." Tsunade asked him with a sigh.

"Fine. The crazy bitch said that one of their members came up to her asking if she would join them, 'cause she's like the greatest seal master since ever. She said no. Actually she probably said something ruder and a lot more annoying than no." Everyone in the room had a sudden simultaneous eye twitch. "After she said no the guy attacked her. She said it was some blonde guy that looked liked a girl, had mouths in his hands, and could make clay explode. She said she just barely got away from him, and I think maybe she's scared of him."

"Blonde guy… that sounds like Deidara, and ex-Iwa nin." Jiraiya told them. "I don't actually have much info on him. Just his name and old village."

"Well I don't think she knew a lot either. Just what she saw." Naruto told them.

"Still, if she actually fought the guy---"

"I doubt she actually fought. I bet she did something loud, flashy, and stupid and while he was distracted, she snuck away." Naruto interrupted him. Jiraiya slapped him in the back of the head.

"Don't talk while I'm talking, you brat." Jiraiya told him. "As I was saying; if she went up against the guy she might know something we don't. We should try writing to her."

"Good idea." Tsunade nodded her agreement. "We should write to the Tsuchikage as well. I've yet to request those reparations from Iwa. I wanted to save the favor for when we would need it, now might be good. Typically, they wouldn't give us much but I can probably wrangle to get the full file on him."

"Great, that's perfect." Jiraiya said snapping his fingers. "See if they have anything else on the Akatsuki while you're at it. You never know, since one of their missing-nin is a part of it, they might have information."

Tsunade nodded. "Good point." She moved around her desk to lift up and pen. "I'll get started right away."

"HELLO!" Naruto called at the two distracted adults. "Did you forget what I came here for in the first place?" Naruto crossed his arms over his chest with a huff.

"What?" Tsunade stared at him blankly before the light dawned on her and her eyes widened. " Oh… Oh! Sorry Naruto."

"Whatever, just, you know, will you be there when I tell them?" Naruto asked her. "Oh, and I guess you, too, Ero-Sennin."

"Hey! Why am I the after thought?" Jiraiya asked him heatedly.

"Because you suck!" Naruto replied with what he thought of as a great retort.

"Why you little unappreciative brat." Jiraiya advanced on Naruto, intent on beating respect into him, before being sent to the floor by Tsunade's fist.

"Now is not the time for your shenanigans." She told the quivering mass formerly known as Jiraiya. "Of course we'll both be here. We'll make Kakashi come too, on time even, and anyone else you want. Do you want Iruka and Shizune to be there?"

"I, well, no. I think the fewer people there the less confusing it will be. And, I mean I know they know already but it's not something I've ever talked to them about and I…" Naruto trailed off looking at the ground.

"I understand. They've never really acknowledge that the Kyuubi is inside you and so it's easier for you to pretend they don't know, but if you talk about it with them around it'll be like your reveling the secret to two more people." Tsunade looked at him with gentle eyes.

"Yeah, I guess." Naruto shrugged as he fiddled with the hem of his shirt. "So when can we do this?"

"Whenever you want." Tsunade told him.

"Right, okay, how about tomorrow morning?"

---

Naruto was sorely tempted to just stay in bed all day that morning. Yes, that sounded like an excellent plan. He could sleep late, eat some ramen, maybe practice his seals or jutsu or something. Anything. As long as he didn't have to go to the Tower and tell his best friends something that would most likely cause him to lose them.

God, even being forced to not eat ramen for a year was better than that!

But eventually he decided that it was best to just plunge headfirst into it and get the whole ordeal over with. Plus, he reasoned that since he was far too nervous to eat now, the sooner he told them the sooner he could eat.

When he finished trudging his way to her office, Tsunade, Jiraiya, and Kakashi were already there waiting for him.

"Wow." Naruto said as he entered. "You really did get him here on time."

"Of course I'm here on time." Kakashi told Naruto. "I know how to be punctual when it's required."

"Sure." Naruto rolled his eyes. "I bet Tsunade told you to be here two hours ago."

"I did." Tsunade nodded at him. "He just got here a couple of minutes ago."

"Now that isn't fair." Kakashi said. "I'm still basically on time for the real thing."

The others all just stared at him.

"What?" Kakashi asked defensively.

"Never mind." Tsunade sighed. "We don't have time for this. Sakura and Sasuke should be here in about ten minutes."

"Great that gives me ten minutes to have a heart attack and die so I don't have to tell them." Naruto said darkly.

"Are you sure you want to do this, Twerp?" Tsunade asked him.

"Yes." Naruto answered firmly.

"Hey, we want you to know that we're proud of you, even if you are an annoying brat, and that no matter what we're still on your side, got it?" Jiraiya told the blonde.

"Yeah, fine." Naruto shrugged at him.

They sat in silence for the rest of the waiting, or, at least Kakashi, Jiraiya, and Tsunade sat in silence. Naruto was filing in silence, too nervous to sit still.

A knock sounded at the door and a Chuunin guard stuck his head in.

"They're here, Tsunade-sama. Should I send them in?"

"Yes." Tsunade responded glancing at Naruto who had frozen the moment the knock had reverberated throughout the office.

Sasuke and Sakura were then ushered into Tsunade's office, both looking slightly confused.

"Um, Tsunade-sama?" Sakura asked. At Tsunade's nod she continued. "What's going on? I mean, with both got these messages this morning and…" She trailed off as she waved around the paper the note was written on.

"It said this was about a village secret, something that affected our team." Sasuke finished for her looking from the three adults to Naruto, who still hadn't moved from his spot next to a book case.

"This is about Naruto, isn't it?" Sakura suddenly asked, staring at Naruto's back as he stood facing away from them. "This is about some secret of Naruto's."

Naruto whirled around, shocked, and dropped the files onto the floor, causing papers to slide around randomly. His jaw worked as he tried to get something out.

"How did you…" He began in a soft tone.

"Whenever I ask Kakashi-sensei about why you heal so fast or why you have so much chakra he either changes the subject who says it's up to you to say. And sometimes he'll let things slip like how animals fear you or something about your weird skill in a fight but when we ask him to explain, he clams up. Naruto is…is it really that bad?" Her expression went from frustrated confusion to concerned inquiry in a half a second and she reached out a hand to lie on his arm, only to have him flinch away from her. "Is it really so bad that you would keep it from us?"

"I didn't want to, but I didn't want you to hate me either!" Naruto exclaimed, feeling sorry and defensive in the face of Sakura's wounded puppy eyes.

"Look, why don't we all sit down and try to discuss this calmly, like civilized people?" Tsunade asked them, her tone betraying the fact that it wasn't really a suggestion.

Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura took seats in the chairs that had been set up in front of Tsunade's desk, Naruto scooting his chair until he was a little apart and to the side of the other two. Tsunade sat back down at her desk and Jiraiya and Kakashi moved to her side.

"Alright, Naruto, how do you want to do this?" Tsunade asked him. "Do you want me to---"

"No. No, I'll tell them." Even though he said it the next few minutes were spent in silence.

"Dobe if we're just going to sit here---" Sasuke began to complain only to have Naruto cut into his words.

"Do you remember when Atsuko was talking about Jinchuuriki? Do you remember what she said?" Naruto asked them.

They both thought back to that night several months ago around the campfire. They each could clearly recall the annoyingly slightly screechy tone that Atsuko possessed, but only Sakura could remember the words.

"She said that Jinchuuriki were humans that contained the spirits of the demons, locking away the power. She said that they can often do things that don't seem natural…" Sakura's eyes widened as the implications sunk in. "No. No, no, no, no, no." Her voice rose in pitch with each denial and she leapt from her chair to put her face right in Naruto's. "That can't… Tell me that's not right!"

Naruto nodded at her. Sasuke looked between them in confusion.

"What are you going on about?" he asked, a little miffed from being left out.

"Did you know that you can't kill a demon in its natural form?" Naruto asked him. "It doesn't have an actual body you see, just false bodies made of the elements and raw power. So all they really are are these spirit things. You can't kill a spirit."

"But the Yondaime, he killed one, he killed the Kyuubi." Sasuke had a very frightening thought trying to make its self known in the back of his mind. A tickling little idea that wouldn't leave him alone. But he forcefully beat it back and refused to acknowledge it.

"You can't kill a spirit, Sasuke." Naruto said again. "Doesn't matter how strong you are. But you can seal it."

Sakura bit back a sob as she fell to the ground, tears trying to force themselves down her cheeks.

"Naruto you better be getting to the damn point!" Sasuke told him, furious.

"He's a Jinchuuriki, Sasuke." Sakura whispered harshly from the floor. "He's the Kyuubi's Jinchuuriki."

"What? No. That's not possible." Sasuke said, refusing to believe. "Tell me she's lying. Tell me Naruto."

"Sasuke I… I'm sorry." Naruto shook his head at a loss for words. He then let his head hang as silence filled the room, aside from Sakura's muffled crying. A door opening and slamming made him jump and whirl around. Sasuke had left.

Naruto stared at the door for a minute before turning around again and crouching down by Sakura. He held a hand over her back, not touching her, unsure how to, or even if he should, comfort her.

"…Sakura-chan?" He asked eventually.

"I—you—you lied to us." Sakura reared back up from her bent over position kneeling on the ground. "You let us think you just… I thought it was just some weird bloodline at first."

"I didn't mean to lie. I didn't even find out until like a year ago!" Naruto explained.

"I should have known. All the clues were there. Was I just too stupid?" She turned on her knees to stare into his eyes, willing him to answer her.

"No. I mean you were told that---"

"That's right!" Sakura gasped, she jumped to her feet and stormed to the desk. Slamming her palms on the old wood she leaned forward to glare at Tsunade. "Why were we lied to?! You all just lied and lied and kept lying. We learned that it, the Kyuubi, that thing, was dead."

"That's the way the Sandaime made it." Tsunade told her with an equal glare. "I had nothing to do with that."

"But you're perpetuating it aren't you? Why?"

"To protect Naruto, you idiot girl!" Tsunade yelled at her. "There is a law in this village. A very special law; that those who immigrated here or are younger than 16 or so don't even know about. To break this law is considered high treason. The punishment is death or banishment, depending on whether or not you're a shinobi. There are only two people allowed to break this law. Me and Naruto. Now what do you think this law states?"

Sakura had flinched back violently when Tsunade had begun screaming. She stammered as she tried to think of a reply. It had to be about Naruto being the Jinchuuriki. But why would someone make that law? If only immigrants and the young don't know about it. If only Naruto can break it.

"_Because it might just get me killed."_

'_Kakashi had told them that once, when they were asking about Naruto's healing. He couldn't tell us.' _Sakura thought to herself.

"If you know then… then you can't tell anyone, right?"

"That's right. If you know the secret you are obligated by law to shut your mouth and keep it." Jiraiya nodded at her. "In the beginning, we had a lot of problems with people telling anyone who moved to Konoha and telling their kids. After the first few executions and banishments, though, that quickly stopped."

"Still, why didn't you tell us sooner?" Sakura turned to look at Naruto again, hurt clear in her features.

"I didn't want you to hate me." Naruto shrugged. "I thought if you knew, you'd hate me for it. Like how some of the others do."

"But… but you're still Naruto right?" At Naruto's bewildered expression she attempted to clarify. "You aren't the demon, you're Naruto right? Annoying, stupid, slow, dense, aggravating---"

"Hey!" Naruto cried in indignation.

"---kind, compassionate, generous, funny, strong, and brave Naruto." Sakura smiled at him. "I think only a moron would hate you for something like that. You obviously aren't a demon. So, I don't hate you." Naruto had a moment to feel relieved before Sakura continued. "But I am mad at you and I am disappointed. Didn't you trust us enough to tell us earlier? Did you really think we'd hate you? Do you really think we're like that? Didn't you think it might be important for us to know?"

"What's with all the we and us? Sasuke isn't here is he? He ran out!" Naruto yelled at her.

"Well, yeah, that looks bad, but I'm sure Sasuke-kun didn't mean---" Sakura began to defend her other teammate.

"Didn't mean to what? Leave right after I told him only the single greatest secret I have?" Naruto asked her nastily.

"No, you idiot!" Sakura yelled at him. "Jeez, you don't even know why he left, so don't go thinking stupid things! Do you think it's any easier for us to hear it then it is for you to say it?"

"Okay, I think we all need to take a deep breath, and think before we saying anything else, right?" Kakashi got between the two arguing Genin and spoke in such an annoyingly cheerful tone that the two couldn't help but turn their glares to him.

"What are you talking about?" Naruto asked Sakura, completely ignoring Kakashi.

"It's hard, you know, to hear things like that. I'm not even sure I understand it. No, I'm sure I _don't_ understand it. It's such a great and horrible thing. Jinchuuriki. How is it even possible?" Sakura looked at him with an expression of utter confusion. "When Sajiki-san was talking about them, about that boy Gaara, I could just tell myself that it had nothing to do with me, that it was something so far removed from the everyday 'normal' that is my life, that I—I didn't need to try to understand. But now, suddenly, suddenly it's become very real and, it..it…it _hurts. _It really fucking hurts."

Everyone in the room blinked in surprise. Aside from the occasional 'hell' Sakura just didn't swear, at least not aloud.

"Sakura-chan---" Naruto tried to say it was okay or maybe apologize or something, but Sakura interrupted him.

"Shut up, I'm not done yet." Sakura glared at him. "It hurts because you're one of my best friends, and you're my teammate, and the idea that for so long you had to deal with something so bad, it hurts! Even now I—I just want to be able to say something or do something and make it all better and I can't. I don't even know how to start and I'm sure people far older and smarter and better than me have already tried. It hurts. And it makes me feel useless." Sakura started to sob again.

"…You're not useless, Sakura-chan." Naruto told her as he awkwardly pulled her into a hug. "I mean, it's nice just knowing that you care."

Sakura sniffed a few more times as she let herself be hugged before abruptly pulling back.

"What do you say we go find Sasuke now? Maybe he just needed some time to think about it. In fact, I'm sure that's it. You're his best friend, right?" Sakura gave him a watery smile, and Naruto returned it.

"Alright." Naruto agreed with her. The two then left through the door debating the most likely places to look.

"Well, I think that went pretty well." Kakashi said to Jiraiya and Tsunade.

Tsunade gave him a dirty look.

"Maybe we should wait until it's all over before saying things like that." Jiraiya recommended.

---

Turns out finding Sasuke was harder than it sounded. He wasn't at his house, at the training ground, at the bridge, at the hospital (suggested by Sakura) or at Ichiraku Ramen (suggested by Naruto).

"This is ridiculous!" Sakura cried after their third hour of searching. They'd just visited the Memorial Stone and were now on their way to the observation platform above the Hokage Monument. "How hard can it be to find one person?"

"Well Konoha is pretty big after all." Naruto reminded her. Sakura gave him a dirty look. "Err, plus Sasuke must be really good at hiding?" He added.

"Of course he is, but this isn't hide-n-seek!" Sakura threw her hands into the air as a sign of her frustration. "If it were, I could yell 'Ollie Ollie Oxen Free!' and he'd come out!"

"Maybe you should try that anyway." Naruto said. He was tired of looking for Sasuke, too and the more time that went by the more his worry over Sasuke's reaction increased.

"Oh, like it would actually work. Idiot." Sakura used her best 'you are a complete and utter moron voice' to say.

"Hey! I'd like to see you come up with something!" Naruto defended himself. "What's _your_ idea to find him?"

"…Maybe he went outside the village? Maybe he went out to the forest or the plain or…"

Sakura's eyes widened in realization. "The plain! I bet he's at the plain where you fought Gaara!"

"Why would he go there?" Naruto gave her a confused look. There was nothing at the plain to see, except the ravine and that wasn't very fun to look at for long.

"Because, that's the first time we ever really knew that you were different, not normal." Sakura explained. Naruto flinched a little at 'not normal'. "Sorry, I didn't mean it like that."

"It's okay." Naruto gave her a small smile. "If you really think he's there then we should go."

It took half an hour to get to the wide, flat field and at first it seemed like a waste of time. Closer inspection, however, found Sasuke lying in the grass staring at the clouds.

"Hey, Sasuke-kun." Sakura greeted him nervously. "What're you doing?"

"Cloud watching." Sasuke told her. "How can Shikamaru find this enjoyable? This is boring as hell."

"We should talk." Naruto said to him. Naruto stood fidgeting next to Sakura, looking anywhere but at Sasuke.

"What's there to talk about? You're a Jinchuuriki." Sasuke sat up but kept his eyes on the sky. "I guess I should have known. You're completely inept; no doubt all your power comes from the demon."

"Sasuke!" Sakura shouted in admonishment as Naruto launched himself at the other boy.

Sasuke turned his gaze to Naruto but not in time to block the punch that he threw.

"You bastard!" Naruto shouted at him as Sakura tried fiercely to hold him back. "How dare you just---"

"It's true isn't it?" Sasuke had leaped up by this point and was shouting in return. "Your strength, your stamina, your monstrous chakra, it all comes from that demon, doesn't it?"

"Sasuke! What are you talking about?" Sakura cried as she drug Naruto back a few steps, it was easy seeing as Naruto had turned to dead weight in her arms. "Naruto is your best friend."

"I thought he was my best friend, but all he's done is lie to me, to us! He lied to us, Sakura!" Sasuke glared at both of them. "And now you're taking his side?"

"I'm not taking sides!" Sakura argued. "I'm on both your sides. No, there shouldn't even _be_ sides. We're a team, aren't we?"

"Teams don't lie to each other." Sasuke stated dully.

"I didn't lie. It's not like I ever said 'Oh no, I don't have a legendary, horrible, nine-tailed fox demon sealed up in my stomach.' did I?" Naruto pushed Sakura's hands away gently but refrained from stepping up to where Sasuke was standing.

"A lie of omission is still a lie." Sasuke disagreed, folding his arms across his chest. "You should have told us sooner."

"It's not something I wanted to share! Not ever! It's a dark twisted horrible thing, you bastard, don't you get that?" Naruto started yelling once again.

"It's still important. Did you really think we'd hate you?" Sasuke yelled back.

"Please, please stop fighting!" Sakura begged them. "I mean, we can all agree that we don't hate each other, right?" The two turned to stare at her. Naruto nodded his head in agreement to her words but Sasuke frowned.

"I may not hate you Naruto, but I'm still angry with you." Sasuke turned to leave. "It's going to take a while before I trust you again." With that last comment he walked off, leaving Naruto and Sakura to stand awkwardly in the field.

"Well that could have gone a lot better." Naruto remarked bitterly.

---

**OMAKE: Happy Birthday Tsunade!**

Suggested/Requested by kittydemon18)

It was Tsunade's birthday. The exact age she was turning, however, was a secret that no one but Jiraiya knew, and he wouldn't be telling under threat of castration. In fact, most of Konoha was in the dark about Tsunade's birthday. And that was just the way she liked it.

Unfortunately, Jiraiya knew. And Jiraiya told Naruto. Who told his team. And they all quickly set about planning an appropriate birthday surprise.

No matter what Tsunade did, she couldn't figure out what the surprise was.

Turns out ninja are very good at planning surprises.

Figured.

Tsunade hates surprises.

That sort of figured, too.

---

The day of Tsunade's birthday dawned windy, raining, and just generally nasty. This was remarkable considering how overall pleasant weather in the Land of Fire generally was.

Tsunade felt it was a bad omen.

Her winning streak at the gambling hall was a bad omen too, although a good omen for her finances.

Tsunade spent the entire day jumping at the slightest noise or movement. She fretted and worried and wracked her brain trying to think of what they might do. She couldn't focus on paperwork, or even gambling. And she couldn't even enjoy her sake. But so far nothing bad had happened.

Jiraiya didn't get in trouble for spying.

Sakura took an extra shift at the hospital.

Naruto calmly and efficiently did the filing.

Kakashi was punctual to mission briefings.

And even Sasuke was polite when accepting D-ranked missions.

Where was the surprise? Where was the undoubtedly horrible surprise?

Due to not being able to focus properly on her paperwork Tsunade was forced to stay late working on it. At a quarter to midnight Naruto came walking through the door.

"You still working, Baa-chan?" He asked before quickly dodging the clock. Unfortunately he was too slow to dodge the heavy Official Hokage Stamp™ following it.

"Shut up! I wouldn't still be working if you all didn't keep me worrying about your surprise all day!" Tsunade gasped as it dawned on her. "Wait! You must be here to begin the surprise. Hahahaha! I'll be ready! You won't get away with it!"

"What are you talking about Baa-chan?" Naruto stared at the crazily laughing woman. "We already gave you our surprises."

"Hahaha… er, what?" Tsunade blinked at him.

"I did the filing without asking, Kakashi-sensei was on time, Sakura-chan did an extra shift at the hospital, Sasuke-teme didn't complain about D-ranks and filled in all the forms correctly for once instead of purposely botching them like he usually does, and Ero-sennin didn't peep today." Naruto explained patiently. "We were trying to make it so you'd have less work to do and could leave early."

"…You were?" Tsunade asked him. "Wait… Uchiha messes up on the D-ranked mission forms on purpose?"

"Err…." Naruto rubbed the back of his head. "I gotta go. And, um, you didn't hear that from me!" He quickly made his way out the window.

Left alone with her paperwork Tsunade felt like crying. This was the worst birthday ever!

---

**Author's Note Reprise: **She lives!!!! Bwahahaha! Okay, I'm done now. Anyways this chapter is finally complete. I want to cry. I'm still not happy with it but it's better than the first eight versions so, here it is! The next chapter will be out much faster, but hey, you're getting this before March so you should all be happy!

**Snicky's Note! **She said this was shorter. I said she lied! T.O But hey, I'm having a good day. I did this in an hour! Haha! Record!

**Fuinjutsu Notes:**

Fuinjutsu: Kinmuchiteate Makura (Seal Skill: Area Allowance Total Darkness) - The Kinmuchiteate Makura (try saying that five times fast) is an Area Allowance seal that plunges the designated area in complete and total darkness. If you're outside the seal it looks like a thick, black, impenetrable fog has suddenly descended upon a circle of land. If you're inside the seal it's as though the sun just went out. The seal doesn't last very long however, after ten minutes it dissipates.

About Kinmuchiteate Seals: Kinmuchiteate translates roughly to Area Allowance. Essentially that means that a Kinmuchiteate seal affects a given area rather than a person or a thing. Kinmuchiteate seals are different from other seals that might affect a space (such as a room or a cabinet) in that the seals are not anchored to that space and as such are easier to perform, release, and even move if need be. They aren't however as permanent or powerful because of this. While some (very few and generally considered too complicated for their meager results) Kinmuchiteate seals have existed for generations. Most (and the most useful ones) were invented within the last fifteen years by Sajiki Atsuko.

There will be more Kinmuchiteate Seals, although right now we've only seen two.

**PREVIEW:**

"A month is far too long to spend in an argument." Kakashi lectured them in a holier-than-thou tone of voice, causing a round of eye twitching to pass through the three of them. "Now, I am a firm believer in trust being built through trial, so we'll be taking a mission that will tax your mind, body, and spirit and unite you against a common foe."

"What will we be doing, Kakashi-sensei?" Sakura asked warily.

"We'll be escorting one Sajiki Atsuko from the border of Bird Country through Rain to Konoha." Kakashi told her cheerfully.

They all groaned.

**REVIEW OR I'LL EAT YOU! RAWGH! 65 Reviews Gets An OMAKE!**

**ALSO: **Would anybody like to write for me a one shot featuring any or all of my OCs (Yuuka, Atsuko, Kimura)? Do so and I will write for you a 2000 word or longer one shot of your choice! Feel free to go crazy if you do, I want to see what you can come up with.

(Also: Someone did write me one, and I deleted their PM with what they wanted for a oneshot. IF YOU WROTE ME ONE AND I HAVEN'T DONE YOUR ONESHOT YET, PM ME AGAIN!)


	17. Chapter 17

**An Alternative Path **

**Author's note: **Ummm. I suck? Sorry? Seriously though, I never meant for the chapter to be this delayed. It's just that, lately, my life has been getting away from me. And I've just been feeling very sad recently and it's hard to write when I feel sad. Turns out I've been depressed. Also school and work (although I quit that job to go back to being a nanny) were just terrible, not to mention illness, my mother being in a serious car accident, friends, and a trip to Nashville sort of interfered with the writing.

School's out so I should be getting back to more regular updates, although Snicky leaves in June for Europe so I need to find a temp beta before then. If you're interested PM me please.

I just want to say that I really love all of you readers and reviewers. It means a lot that you like the story so much.

**ALSO: I NOW HAVE A FORUM. PLEASE USE IT. I HATE ANSWERING THE SAME QUESTIONS OVER AND OVER AND FREAKIN' OVER AGAIN! ****(although I still will)**

I hope that is suitable noticeable enough to get your attention.

**ALSO: The AAP Side Story is up. GO READ IT!**

**IMPORTANT: **This story is AU. That means ALTERNATE UNIVERSE. That means I can do whatever the hell I want and you have to suck it up and deal.

**BTW: **I don't own Naruto! I do however own Sajiki Atsuko, Yamamoto Yuuka, and Kimura Shuu. You can borrow them if you give me credit.

**A Mission of Forgiveness**

Sakura was determined to kill one of them. Maybe both of them. It didn't matter which at this point, either Sasuke or Naruto were fine. Hell, even Kakashi was slated for death if he didn't stop being so damn irritating.

Sakura knew that fighting between friends was expected. She knew that sometimes the fights could turn quite bitter. She even knew that sometimes they could last for years, until eventually what you're really fighting about gets lost in some made up excuse instead. Case in point; her and Ino.

Sakura and Ino had just started to repair that broken friendship a few months ago.

But, even though Sakura really had no reason to talk, she was sick and tired and just goddamned annoyed at Sasuke's and Naruto's continued fight.

Although it wasn't really much of a fight anymore, she supposed. More like a mutual agreement to draw out a long, awkward ignorance of each other. Sasuke ignored Naruto, Naruto ignored Sasuke (just not as well).

It was seriously pissing her off though.

Sakura sighed into the silence that had descended over their (it would always be theirs, they'd even carved their names into it with a kunai) bridge. She was currently sitting in between her boys (just as the bridge would always be theirs, Naruto, Sasuke, and even Kakashi would always be hers) on that cheap bench they'd dragged into place.

"I wonder where Kakashi-sensei is?" Sakura questioned the air, not expecting either of her companions to answer.

They didn't, although she did feel Naruto shrug to her left.

"He's late." Sakura continued.

Both of the boys turned to regard her with raised brows.

"Later than usual." Sakura clarified. "Late even for him." This was true. Typically he was only forty minutes to an hour late. It had been almost two hours.

"Does one of my cute little students miss me?" Kakashi's voice came from directly behind her. The three of them jumped and were at the other side of the bridge before Kakashi could even blink. He wondered where that speed was during training.

"Don't do that!" Sakura screamed at him while pointing a finger. Kakashi smiled before hopping off the railing behind the bench to land in front of them.

"Sorry, sorry." He told her with a small motion of his hand, not sounding very sorry at all.

Sakura knew better than to call him on it.

"Whatever. Are we going to train today or what?" Sakura asked. Training with the rest of Team 7 had become so normal that it was depressing. Sasuke and Naruto used to get into all sorts of contests to see who could train better, faster, harder—whatever—but now they just silently did their own things. Sakura wasn't used to silence on her team.

"Nope." Kakashi grinned at them.

"No?" Sakura asked.

"A month is far too long to spend in an argument." Kakashi lectured them in a holier-than-thou tone of voice, causing a round of eye twitching to pass through the three of them. "Now, I am a firm believer in trust being built through trial, so we'll be taking a mission that will tax your mind, body, and spirit and unite you against a common foe."

"What will we be doing, Kakashi-sensei?" Sakura asked warily.

"We'll be escorting one Sajiki Atsuko from the border of Bird Country through Rain to Konoha." Kakashi told her cheerfully.

They all groaned.

"Why the hell do we have to be the ones to escort that crazy old bitch anywhere?" Naruto complained loudly. It was the first time he'd really complained, or done anything loud, in a month.

Sakura immediately saw Kakashi's plan and instantly switched sides. She was now all for the mission.

"Because, we're proud shinobi of the Leaf who have been given a mission, one we won't fail!" Sakura told him sternly.

"Are you sure we can't fail? Cause I'd really like to just not go." Naruto asked her.

"No. We can't fail." Sakura deadpanned.

"I think it's decided we'll go." Kakashi smiled at them again. "She specifically asked for our team, you know; it's an honor."

"It's so she can make my life a living hell." Naruto explained to him patiently, as one might to a child. "She just wants to irritate me."

"Naruto." Sakura called. When he looked at her she hit him in the back of the head. "Don't flatter yourself. She probably just wants the protection Kakashi-sensei can give her."

"No, I don't think so." Kakashi said while scratching his chin. "Tsunade-sama said that she requested 'The lame ass brat's' team. In those words exactly."

"See!" Naruto yelled out triumphantly. Sakura hit him again, although inwardly she was pleased, he hadn't talked so much since That Day. That Day which would forever be capitalized in their minds.

"You need to go get ready team. It's going to be a pretty long trip. Probably two weeks." Kakashi told them.

"Two weeks!" Naruto cried out. "Two weeks with her!"

"No, no. Probably only one and a half weeks with her." Kakashi assured him.

"That's not much better." Naruto mumbled as he turned to leave.

--

They made it to Bird Country in three days, skirting along the edge of Rain as Kakashi told them that the perpetually-raining country seemed to have been growing increasingly hostile for some reason.

They got lost only once while looking for the village of Washi. Turns out Kakashi wasn't too good at reading maps. Sakura, thankfully, was.

Atsuko hadn't told them where to meet her in Washi however, so they made their way towards the mayor's house to ask him if he had any idea where the famous Fuinjutsu master was.

They were quickly led into the mayor's office by a nervous guard who obviously didn't know what to do with real live shinobi in front of him. In the office they got quite a surprise.

There stood Atsuko, or they assumed it was Atsuko. This time around the long red hair was gone, replaced with a short shaggy platinum blonde cut. Her eyes were a dark blue color and her skin was deeply tanned. She was taller and more muscular looking than she'd previously been. The only things that remained unchanged were the multicolored seals written across her flesh.

Kneeling in front of Atsuko, grasping her hand tightly, was a short, fat, balding middle aged man in an elegant suit.

"Dear Atsuko-chan," He was saying, "will you not at least consider it?"

"Err…" Atsuko said, sounding very unsure of herself, something that surprised the shinobi. She just happened to turn her head then and notice the group standing at the door. "Kashi-kun!" She screamed out joyfully. In a moment she had detached herself from the mayor and reattached herself to Kakashi's arm. Kakashi looked quite taken aback by her actions but didn't remove her when she hissed at him and his team, "I swear to god, go along with it and I'll pay you whatever you want."

"Um… Hello Atsuko…chan…" Kakashi said, deeply confused. His genin were utilizing all their shinobi training in an effort not to burst out laughing.

"Mayor-kun, you asked me why I would not consider marrying you and staying here in beautiful Bird Country." Atsuko began, ignoring the sudden coughing fit Naruto went into while trying to stifle a comment on who the hell would want to marry her. "Well, I'm afraid your offer came too late. I have met the love of my life in dear Kashi-kun here," she stopped to pat 'Kashi-kun's' arm, "and I just could not consider another, isn't that right, Kashi-kun."

Kakashi froze slightly as every eye in the room swung from Atsuko to him. "Um…yes?" He inwardly winced as it came out like a question and Atsuko managed to glare at him while making it seem like a love-struck gaze to everyone else in the room.

"Yes, of course!" Atsuko trilled happily. She turned, tugging at Kakashi's arm and snatching the back of Naruto's collar with her other hand to pull him along behind her. "I'm terribly sorry, Mayor-kun. But we must be going. Lots of wedding plans to make in Konoha." And she's out the door before anyone thought to object.

"What the hell was that about?" Naruto choked out through his laughter. Sakura laughed right along with him and even Sasuke was hard pressed not to join in. Kakashi meanwhile was frantically trying to shake Atsuko off him, but she clung on like a leech.

"Stop that. Wait until we get out of the village." She muttered to him as she yanked hard on Naruto's collar, causing the boy to choke slightly. "And you, shut up."

They both did as she demanded, although odd snorts were still coming from Naruto, and soon enough they were a mile from Washi.

"Thank god you showed up just then!" Atsuko told them. "I was running out of excuses not to marry that guy."

"Just what was that all about anyway, Atsuko-san?" Sakura asked the woman.

"Hmm? Oh, well the Mayor of Washi just so happens to be in love with me, the bastard, and every time I come to Washi he asks me to marry him." Atsuko explained to her.

"Why don't you just tell him no?" Sakura suggested.

"Oh my god! What a brilliant suggestion. You, my dear, are a genius!" Atsuko threw her hands into the air. "Don't you think I've tried that already? The man won't take no for an answer."

"Why don't you just kick his ass?" Naruto asked.

"Because, he's very, very rich, and as I said, he's in love with me, so he'll call me out here to do small things and then pay me huge amounts of money for it. I love money. Especially easy money. I don't want to be rude to him cause then he'll maybe stop giving me all that money." Atsuko explained.

"…So basically you're greedy and lazy." Naruto summarized.

"Exactly!" Atsuko cheered.

"But won't he think now you're getting married and give up on you?" Sakura pointed out.

"No. He's a love sick fool. Besides, this is the third time I've pulled the 'I'm marrying someone else' gambit." Atsuko waved off her concerns.

"You really are a heartless bitch, aren't you?" Naruto asked her dryly.

"That's just rude, Naru-kun." Atsuko sniffed at him. "But probably accurate."

"What are you, four?" Naruto asked her with a twitch of his brow.

"I believe that there is no reason to act like an adult if you don't have to." Atsuko grinned at him. "I don't want to have to grow up. Growing up's for ordinary, normal people."

"Perhaps we should just get started now?" Kakashi suggested wearily. He had no doubt that Naruto and Sakura would be bringing up today's events again in the future, and he wasn't looking forward to it.

"Eh?" Atsuko looked confused for a moment. "Oh right!" She tapped a fist into her palm in an 'I got it!' gesture. "You're taking me to Konoha."

"That's correct, Atsuko-san." Kakashi nodded at her.

"Well let's get going then. What, are we just going to stand here?" Atsuko shook her head at the apparent denseness of her guards.

Kakashi felt a muscle twitch in his jaw but didn't say anything, instead merely turned around silently and heading down the road.

"You do it on purpose, don't you?" Naruto asked Atsuko when he saw her grin at Kakashi's actions.

"Do what, Naruto-kun?" She managed to sound completely innocent, but the wicked smirk on her face belayed her true guilt.

"Never mind." Naruto sighed, giving up.

--

"This isn't the right way." A petulant voice spoke up from the back of their party. Turning around, Team 7 saw Atsuko standing, hands on hips, frowning at them.

"This is the way we came, Atsuko-san." Kakashi told her.

"What? But it will take three more days to go this way rather than through Rain." Atsuko said.

"Yes, but it's safer. We have reports of strange things happening in Rain, and the Rain nin have been unwilling to explain." Kakashi answered.

"Well, they are uptight bastards, but I have a passport right here." Atsuko reached into the wide sleeve of her jacket, seemingly routing around for something. After a moment she frowned before holding up her arm and pulling out her sleeve, squinting into it, much to the amusement of the Konoha nin. "What the hell… Ah!" She plunged her hand back into the sleeve and pulled out a thick stack of papers. "Here we are." She flung them at Kakashi.

"This is the passport to travel through Fire." Kakashi told her.

"Behind that." She explained.

"…This one is for Bird."

"Behind that."

"These are citizenship papers for Tea." Kakashi looked back up at her. "I didn't know you were from Tea."

"Yeah, born there." She snatched the papers from Kakashi, flipping through them idly. "Here, this one." She held it up in Kakashi's face. He gazed dispassionately at it.

"That's nice. We're still not going through Rain." He said.

"Yes we are. I actually am paying you this time and you have to do what I say!" A large paper fan appeared in her hand and she whumped Kakashi on the head with it. Kakashi's eye twitched.

"I'm telling you it's not safe." Kakashi explained.

"Yeah?" Atsuko raised an eyebrow at him before turning around and stomping her way towards Rain.

"Atsuko-san!" Kakashi called after her, taking long strides to catch up to her. He caught her arm above the elbow tugging her back. She stumbled and a startled cry escaped her lips.

"Ow! What the hell do you think you're doing, Cyclops-kun?" Atsuko whirled around and began beating him about the head and shoulders with her fan. She created quite a breeze but did no actual damage.

"I really think it would be safer to go around Rain." Kakashi told her with exaggerated patience.

Atsuko stilled, her fan held midair. She sighed and rolled her eyes before releasing the fan. It dropped about a foot before disappearing in a small explosion of smoke. "Look, I understand your hesitation. I don't really _care_, but I understand. If I weren't on a tight schedule I wouldn't mind, but I need to be in Iwa in three weeks, so I need to get to Konoha as soon as possible."

"You can't push the dates back?" Kakashi pleaded with her.

"Not really. In fact, if I hadn't promised Tsu-chan I'd be in Konoha as soon as possible I would go to Iwa first. Yuu-chan's having problems with her arm again. I swore to her I'd be there in three weeks." Atsuko explained to the shinobi.

"…I guess it can't be helped then." Kakashi hung his head in defeat as Atsuko gave a cheer.

"Jeez, just look at all this time we wasted." Atsuko huffed before allowing everyone to continue.

--

The country of Rain lived up to its name. A small ring of mountains around the south and east sides of the country kept rain clouds from passing to other areas, keeping the rain cycle isolated in Rain country.

Sakura sighed as she yanked her foot out of the mud yet again. It was her turn to accompany Atsuko on the ground as the others leapt from branch to branch above their heads.

"You know what? I forgot how much it freaking rains in Rain." Atsuko said to the air. "I should have let Cyclops-kun talk me into going around." She blew at her wet bangs. "Okay, forget this hair!" She yanked up the edge of her sleeve revealing her Fuinjutsu covered arm. "Fuinjutsu: Juu-Roku Men! Kai! Fuinjutsu: Ni-Juu-Nana Men!" A moment later a lanky pale skinned woman with brown hair cut into a pixie style stood there, blinking dark grey eyes into the sheet of water pouring from the sky.

"Warn someone when you do that, willya!" Naruto called from his tree as he regained his balance. He'd been staring at the new Atsuko and had almost missed his step.

"Sorry!" She called up to him even as she snickered.

"You aren't sorry, are you?" Sakura asked a moment later as they all started moving again. Her voice was soft enough and the rain was loud enough to ensure that the boys wouldn't hear her.

"No, because I don't have anything to be sorry about." Atsuko smiled at her.

"I don't get you. You seem to enjoy making things difficult for people." Sakura scowled, squinting into the storm.

"Well, why should I make things easy?" Atsuko asked her pleasantly.

"I don't know, but wouldn't it be better to be nice to people?" Sakura said hesitantly.

"If you're only being nice to people cause it's the 'nice' thing to do, maybe you need to look at your motives a little more." Atsuko placed a long fingered hand on Sakura's shoulder. "I think you focus a little too much on other's opinions of you, whereas I don't give a flying fruit-bat what others think of me."

"Isn't that kind of selfish though?" Sakura asked doubtfully.

"I thought we'd already established my selfishness, Pink-chan." Atsuko gave her a narrow eyed smile and Sakura let the conversation drop.

--

"We need to stop." Atsuko declared around five o'clock on their fourth day through Rain.

"Atsuko-san, you keep halting us hours before we should be stopping. At this pace you won't make it to Iwa when you said you'd be there." Kakashi told her with a frown.

"I don't care, we're stopping." She narrowed her eyes at them and with a flick of her wrist her paper fan appeared. "Got it?" She hit Sasuke over the head with it, as he was the closest target.

"Don't touch me." Sasuke said calmly. Atsuko raised an eyebrow at him.

"Atsuko-san, I really must insist we continue on." Kakashi argued with her.

"No." Atsuko replied darkly.

"Why not?" Kakashi asked stiffly

"I'm tired." Atsuko said offhandedly, shrugging her shoulders and swinging her fan around lazily.

"Tired? That's all?" Kakashi did not sound impressed.

"I don't need to explain myself to you." Atsuko sneered at a random tree, unwilling to look Kakashi in the eye.

"You shouldn't be that tired though. The average human adult woman should be able to continue at this pace for at least two hours before experiencing noticeable fatigue." Sakura reasoned.

"I'm tired, end of story." Atsuko leveled an impressive stare at the kunoichi.

"But you shouldn't be." Sakura said stubbornly, confident in her medical knowledge.

"Maybe I'm just really out of shape."

"I doubt it, given your probable life style." Sakura frowned.

"Why don't you tell us the real reason you want to stop, Atsuko-san." Kakashi crossed his arms and waited for her answer.

"Honest to god, I am tired." Atsuko shook her head and laughed a little. "I have a… heart condition. My heart is much weaker than average. It affects my lungs badly, which in turn affects the level of oxygen in my blood stream which then affects my muscles and other organs. You should know, Pink-chan, everything in the human body is connected to the heart."

"Oh! We didn't realize!" Sakura's hand flew up to her mouth, as though she might stuff earlier words back into it.

"Don't worry about it. It's not something I like people knowing so, I don't talk about it. Although, now that I think about it I'm a little pissed you made me talk about it." She gave Kakashi the squinty eye.

"I apologize for my insensitivity." He gave a small bow of apology with his head.

Atsuko blinked at him owlishly.

"Ooo-kay…" She shrugged. "I don't really care that much, you know."

"Still, I apologize. Let's set up camp now."

--

It was close to one in the morning and Sasuke was finding it difficult to maintain focus in the hazy, humid night. The rain had finally stopped but the heat had risen fiercely. The air was thick and sticky, and left one prone to distraction.

A light ruffle behind him had Sasuke whirling on one knee, kunai in hand. Atsuko stood at the entrance of her tent blinking at him.

"Jumpy much, Stoic-kun?" She smirked at him as she made her way over.

"I thought you were tired." Sasuke went back to staring out through the darkness. It was too hot a night to keep a fire going, so mere embers were left glowing.

"I am. I just can't sleep. The air is too thick. It's like trying to breathe a milkshake." Atsuko sighed as she poked around for a stick to stir up the fire. "Want some tea?"

"Tea?"

"You know, tea. It's made from plant leaves. Tastes good. A beverage. You drink it." Atsuko explained patiently and sarcastically.

"I know what tea is." Sasuke felt his fingers clinch into a fist out of a desire to hit her.

"Then I don't understand your question." Atsuko said as she finally got the fire back up.

"I meant, why tea?" Sasuke had to mentally remind himself that maiming her would be bad for his service record, and that Tsunade would no doubt yell at him for three hours if he did.

"Well, I did grow up in Tea Country. It's only natural I should like tea, right?" Atsuko blinked at him again in mock ignorance.

"I forgot. You said you were born there."

"Huh? Did I say that? I was born in River. I moved to Tea when I was five." Atsuko shrugged like it didn't matter, but Sasuke turned around and narrowed his eyes at her.

"You mean you lied?" He asked her.

"As far as lies go that's about as out and out as they get." Atsuko put a pot on a stand over the fire to boil water from a canteen.

"Why?"

"Why did I lie?" Atsuko smirked at him again, this time nastier than the first. "There are lots of reasons to lie you know, but at the end of the day it amounts to one thing. We lie because we can."

"You lie a lot."

"I do. It's a bad habit by now, a reflex. I'll lie before I'll ever tell the truth. Unimportant things, important things. I'll lie about them all." She poured the water into two cups and dropped strainers full of tea leaves into them.

"I hate liars." Sasuke said as he accepted his cup from her.

"Don't we all." With that she drained her cup in one go and then handed him her empty cup and walked back to her tent, leaving Sasuke alone in the dark, holding one full and one empty cup of tea.

--

"You know what?" Atsuko called into the silence of the forest. All the shinobi turned to look at her without stopping. "Now would be a good time to run, I think." And with that she made quick seals with her fingers and tapped her legs in four places each. "Fuinjutsu: Ririku Chiten!" With that the swirling seals already on her legs glowed a bright blue and she took off, hitting a speed impossible for civilians.

The four shinobi jumped, exchanged surprised looks, and took off after her. After a few minutes of running Kakashi caught up with her. He attempted to grab her by the elbow to halt her but she merely yanked away and kept running.

"Atsuko-san! Please tell me what we are running for." Kakashi called to her as she managed to get another few feet in front of him.

"That." She said pointing upwards and behind her.

The four instantly and simultaneously turned their heads up and back, squinting at the oddly sunny sky. This action almost spelled doom for the group as Naruto ran into a tree, Sakura stumbled over a root, Sasuke stepped on a snake, and Kakashi nearly hit a low hanging branch.

"What the hell are you idiots doing back there? Run faster!" Atsuko screamed back at them before her foot slipped in a patch of mud. Her leg gave a sickening crack as it twisted awkwardly beneath her and her right arm whipped out to grasp desperately at a tree. She maintained her balance but her arm was left with a bloody, aggravated abrasion for her troubles. "Shit fuck." She cursed darkly.

"Atsuko-san! Are you alright?" Sakura called up to her, only a few yards behind now.

"Hell no. Keep running." And with that order Atsuko once again tore off through the trees.

"I don't understand why we are running from a bird, Sajiki-san." Kakashi yelled in aggravation, for that's what he had seen when he'd looked up at the sky at Atsuko's behest. A large bird had been flying high in the air over the forest they were in.

"That's not a bird." Atsuko called back. "That's trouble in the air, and I for one have no time for trouble."

--

As soon as Sakura caught up to Atsuko, she was going to kill her. They'd been running at this speed for close to twenty-five minutes now, and Atsuko was giving no sign of stopping anytime soon.

Sakura meanwhile could barely breathe and had dropped down to the back of the group. It wasn't as though she'd been neglecting her speed or her stamina. When it came down to the wire, the fighting style she'd been trying to create worked best on slower opponents and as not everyone she fought would be slow, dimwitted bandits, she'd been forced to do something about her speed.

Although she still thought that Kakashi-sensei didn't have to actually _throw_ the weights at her.

So it wasn't as though she was even that slow or lacking in stamina, it was just that Atsuko was going that fast.

She was justified a little as she noticed the others having trouble as well. Naruto might have had more stamina than a herd of elephants, but his speed couldn't reach that of the seal enhanced Atsuko. And while Sasuke was faster than Naruto his stamina was not nearly as high. Both of them were clearly starting to fall behind like she had; only Kakashi-sensei had managed to keep pace with Atsuko.

Suddenly Atsuko slid to a stop fifty feet in front of her. Another loud crack was heard and Atsuko cursed as she was forced to one knee. Her head whipped back up immediately and she glared into the dense forest before her.

"Alright already, you might as well come out." Atsuko called as she staggered back to her feet pulling on Kakashi's arm as she did so. Sakura, Naruto, and Sasuke came to a halt a little ways behind her and looked questioningly at Kakashi.

Kakashi too was gazing sharply at the forest in front of him, kunai in one hand and reaching towards his hitai-ate with the other.

"Do as she says, come out now!" Kakashi shouted into the forest, voice grim.

Sakura gulped as she pulled out a small handful of senbon, the thin, elegant needles clutched tightly between fingers. She hadn't seen Kakashi look this serious since the whole fiasco in Iwa. Sasuke meanwhile, had dropped into position to fight, and Naruto had prepared to cast his Kage Bunshin no Jutsu.

"I said, come out! I don't have all fucking day!" Atsuko snapped into the forest, fingers twisting swiftly into seals as she spoke. "Fuinjutsu: Yokusei Haishi Suru!" Her thumb and middle finger on her right hand began to glow and she brought them up to touch the center of her forehead, once there she spread her fingers across her brow. A golden light spread across her forehead marking swirling patterns on her skin. "Come on! I'm ready now! You want a fight or what?"

"Seems you're the one itching for a fight, un." A voice rang out from behind a thick strand of trees.

"I knew it!" Atsuko screamed into the air. "I just knew it! Was my first defeat not enough for you Akatsuki scum?"

"What defeat, un. You distracted me and then took off running, un." A man finally stepped out in front of them. His black and red cloak hid his frame well but blonde hair spilled down his back from a high ponytail and hid one eye from view.

"Thought so." Naruto muttered rolling his eyes. He just knew Atsuko had done something underhanded to escape the first time.

"Shut it, you lame ass brat." Atsuko mumbled back to him not taking her eyes off her opponent.

"I'll give you one more chance, un. Will you join us, un?" The blonde man asked with a rather bored air.

"I'll tell you now what I told you then. I'd rather suck a lemon, retard." Atsuko pointedly flipped him off as she stuck her tongue out.

Team Seven sighed; trust her not to be the least bit diplomatic about it.

"Not polite, un." He rolled his eyes at her a little and sighed. "No choice, un. I'll have to kill you, un."

"Man, I hate the way you talk." Atsuko sighed with a graceful shake of her head.

"That's it, un. You are definitely dying today, un." The man frowned darkly at her.

"Hey, don't blame me for your speech impediment." Atsuko shrugged lazily.

"Atsuko-san, please don't antagonize the enemy." Kakashi murmured to her while fighting the strong urge to stuff a sock in her mouth.

"It's the enemy; you're supposed to antagonize them." She stage whispered back.

Everyone in the small clearing but Atsuko rolled their eyes.

"Can we get serious here, un?" The blonde asked in aggravation.

"Yeah sure, whenever you're ready, stupid." Atsuko pulled on an eyelid and stuck out her tongue again.

"I'm gonna make beautiful art out of your innards, un." The man snarled in reply.

"Please, I've seen the crap you call art, I wasn't impressed." Atsuko gave him a thumbs down and a cheeky grin.

"We'll just see about that, un." He held up his hand and in it was a small clay figurine of a bird.

"Okay." Atsuko mumbled taking a few steps back; the other's following her lead. "If any of you knows how to pull up a stone wall or something now would be a good time to do it."

The man released the bird into the air and it zoomed towards them with alarming speed.

"Wall, wall, one of you freakin' make a wall!" Atsuko screamed abandoning propriety as she scrambled to duck behind a tree.

"Shit!" Naruto called before also diving for the trees. He didn't know what the hell a stupid clay bird was supposed to do, but felt that, given Atsuko's seemingly huge fear of it, he didn't want to find out anytime soon.

Kakashi managed to leap back and up into one of the trees and was swiftly funneling chakra into his Sharingan eye, keeping his focus on the strange blond man who hadn't moved.

Suddenly a loud explosion forced the three people in the trees to turn back to the small clearing.

Sakura had apparently taken Atsuko's rather loudly yelled advice and had indeed pulled up a wall of stone, although it was closer to compacted dirt and mud than actual stone. Both she and Sasuke had been standing behind it as the bird collided with it. Upon impact the wall had shattered, throwing Sasuke and Sakura back as large chunks of the wall hit the trees around them.

One shard of rock hit the trunk of the three Atsuko was standing behind and she poked her head out from it long enough to glare at Sakura and shake a fist. "Hey!" She called indignantly. "Watch it!"

"Holy cheese, I can't believe that worked." Sakura comment a little incredulously as she stood shakily from where the explosion had tossed her.

"Are you telling me you weren't sure the wall would hold?" Sasuke's eyes swung to her as he spoke, aghast.

"Actually, I wasn't sure I could even make a wall. And it didn't really hold, did it?" Sakura nudged one of the chunks of wall with her foot.

"So basically, you gambled our lives on a jutsu you weren't even sure would work." Sasuke felt a massive headache coming on.

"Err, but it worked, so everything's alright, right?" She smiled brightly at him.

"Hey!" Atsuko called again. "Bicker later, fight now!" She ordered pointing a long finger at the cloaked man.

The cloaked man who was currently engaged in a fierce match of Taijutsu with their sensei.

Kakashi was swift to push the Akatsuki member back into the trees, figuring that if the slashed Iwa band on his head was any indication then this man might not be any better at fighting among the trees than the Iwa soldiers had been during the war. The trees of this forest were closer together and not as thick as the ones in Konoha, but Kakashi was quick to adjust his taijutsu to the terrain. The Ex-Iwa man however, was not as fast to adjust, as evident when he accidentally kicked a tree.

Still he was clearly giving Kakashi trouble, and his students were ready to jump in to help, but the three genin were pulled away from the fight by a frantic and frazzled Atsuko before they could.

"Let go!" Naruto yelled at her. "We need to help Kakashi-sensei."

"The Dobe is right, release me." Sasuke frowned at Atsuko darkly.

"Not a chance, Stoic-kun." Atsuko pulled them along behind her until they were some distance away, although close enough to still hear the fight. She released them before crouching on the ground and motioned with her hand for the others to join her. "I have a plan to get us out of here, but I need your help."

The three of them exchanged glances and then Sakura crouched down next to Atsuko.

"What do we need to do?"

--

Sasuke wasn't quite sure how this was supposed to work. Halfway through Atsuko's long and convoluted explanation, Kakashi had gone crashing into a tree and the strange blonde man had launched himself at Atsuko, causing her to shriek girlishly and start running. The shriek still echoed in his ear. Atsuko was _loud._

Still, Sasuke attempted to do his part in the plan, although he was only half sure what it was. He was worried though. Atsuko had drawn a strange seal onto the ground with a stick and had told them to memorize it for the plan. Sasuke had easily copied it with the Sharingan and Sakura was smart enough to simply recall it, but who knows if Naruto had got the damn thing down before the ex-Iwa nin had run through it.

Sasuke allowed himself a moment to be distracted by the fight going on between Atsuko and the blonde. She seemed to have grasped the futility of running and was now engaged in the weirdest taijutsu battle he had ever seen. Her way of fighting reminded him somewhat of a furious kitten, her main method of damaging her opponent seemed to fall in the bite, claw, scratch, hiss category.

Sasuke winced just a little as two of Atsuko's ridiculously long nails raked down the side of her opponents face, drawing blood and outraged screams of "My face! You bitch! That was my face, un!".

"That was the point, you stupid monkey!" Atsuko screamed back as she attempted to claw him again. The man furiously grabbed her arm and hefted her into the air. An open palm struck her in the chest and she went flying back a few yards. Hitting the ground, Atsuko coughed and sputtered, blood falling past her lips to land in the mud.

Sakura swore softly to herself as she witnessed Atsuko's crash landing into the dirt. She remembered Atsuko saying she had a heart condition and Sakura just knew that blow to the chest could not have done her any good. Sakura attempted to run to Atsuko's aid when she noticed the blonde man walk forward to complete his self assigned task of killing Atsuko, however a hand to the shoulder halted her.

"Don't worry Sakura-chan." It was Kakashi standing just a little stiffly behind her, one hand on his ribs as he spoke. "I'll handle him, you help Atsuko." He gave a reassuring squeeze to her shoulder before moving to intercept the man.

Once Kakashi had sufficiently distracted the missing nin, Sakura ran to Atsuko's side, helping to pull the heavily panting woman into a sitting position.

"Are you okay, Atsuko-san?" Sakura asked politely, even in the middle of a battlefield.

"I'm peachy." Atsuko snarked in response. "Here." She pushed Sakura's helping hands off her. "Just stick to the plan, Pink-chan, and maybe we'll all get out of this alive."

With that Atsuko stood shakily and stumbled away, swearing colorfully under her breath and spitting blood onto the dirt around her.

Sakura sighed as she went to do what Atsuko said, praying to whatever deity out there who watched over ninjas and crazy women that this would work.

--

**OMAKE: The Trip to Washi or Kakashi-sensei Sucks at Reading Maps**

"Kakashi-sensei are you _really_ sure this is the right way?" Sakura asked for the third time that day. They had passed into Bird Country close to three hours ago but seemed no closer to finding the village of Washi, which should have been very close to the border, than they had when they first entered the area.

"Not to worry Sakura-chan. I know exactly where we are going." Kakashi smiled at her in reassurance before walking of in a perpendicular direction than what he'd previously been going.

"He's totally lost. We're gonna die." Naruto sighed from behind Sakura.

"I'm sure we're fine. Kakashi-sensei has to know where we're going. He has the map, right?" Sakura wasn't sure if she was trying to convince herself or Naruto but she thought it might have been both.

"…I agree with the moron." Sasuke deadpanned as he walked by the two after Kakashi.

--

"Umm, Kakashi-sensei? I'm pretty sure we passed that rock formation an hour ago."

"No, no, that's an entirely different dog shaped rock Sakura-chan."

--

"Hey Sensei! Isn't Washi towards the east? We're going west."

"Naruto please, I think I know what direction I'm leading us in."

--

"…Kakashi-sensei, this sign says the Village of Hushi."

"Well that's odd… Maybe they changed the name Sasuke-kun."

"That's it!" Sakura cried. "Give me the map!" She snatched the object out of his hand and opened it. "…"

"What is it Sakura-chan?" Naruto attempted to look over her shoulder to read them map.

"Sen..sei…" Sakura started. The boys instantly took a large step back at the tone in her voice. "YOU'VE BEEN LEADING US THE WRONG WAY FOR SIX HOURS!"

"Ah…" Kakashi scratched at his cheek sheepishly. "Is that so? You know I never was too good at reading maps."

"ARGH!!" Sakura screamed as she attempted to launch herself at him. It was all Naruto and Sasuke could do to hold her back

--

**Author's Note Reprise: **Urgh, I die. I don't know why but when you stop writing for a while it becomes exceedingly hard to begin again. This chapter, unlike most of my previous chapters, was written in bits and pieces. Sometimes all I added was a sentence or two at a time. Typically I write the chapters a quarter or more at a time.

Next update will be for TNI, hopefully not too much longer than a week and a half.

Then I go to Florida for a week (Disney World here I come!)

Then Snicky leaves me.

I'm not quite sure when I'll be updating this again.

Please don't hate me!

**Snicky's Note! **Ehhh, sorry. Half of this lateness is my fault. Stupid procrastination.

**Fuinjutsu Notes:**

Fuinjutsu: Ririku Chiten (Sealing Arts: Take-off Point) - The Ririku Chiten works to activate another set of seals called Fuinjutsu: Kaze no Ashi, that way the Kaze no Ashi does not need to get drawn on each time it is used and can be tattooed on and just activated and deactivated at the users leisure.

Fuinjutsu: Kaze no Ashi (Sealing Arts: Legs of Wind) - These spiraling black seals get wound around the legs and when activated can force a high speed out of the user when running. There are serious side-effects though. The users body, unused to such exertion, can suffer a number of ailments and the strain on the legs themselves is often enough to brake bones, tear tendons, and rip muscles. Prolonged use of the seal can even cause paralysis.

Fuinjutsu: Yokusei Haishi Suru (Sealing Arts: Inhibition Lift) - A seal that affects the mind the Yokusei Haishi Suru does what it was named for. It lifts ones inhibitions, making them fiercer in a fight.

**World Notes: **Because Kishi doesn't give me a big enough world to play in I'm using stuff from the anime. Deal. leafninjadotcom/countrydotphp is my source of countries, although I'm not using all of them.

**PREVIEW:**

"Naruto! Get the hell out of there!" Atsuko yelled in abject horror as her bloody hand hovered over the seal carved into the trunk of the tree.

**REVIEW OR I'LL EAT YOU! RAWGH! 100+ Reviews Gets A SIDE STORY! Not Omake, a WHOLE SIDE STORY!**


	18. Chapter 18

**An Alternative Path **

**Author's note: **/pokes head out/ Err… sorry? So I took some time to myself. I wrote a while for some other things. Nothing good so it hasn't been posted, but there is something therapeutic about writing crap. Anyways I also took the time to plot out the story again, because the previous plot ended up being changed a little (They weren't originally meant to go to Iwa and meet Yuuka, actually there wasn't even a Yuuka). I'm feeling better and more sure of the story now so we'll see how things go with updating from now on.

**IMPORTANT: **This story is AU. That means ALTERNATE UNIVERSE. That means I can do whatever the hell I want and you have to suck it up and deal.

**BTW: **I don't own Naruto! I do however own Sajiki Atsuko, Yamamoto Yuuka, and Kimura Shuu. You can borrow them if you give me credit.

**Genius or Something Like It**

Atsuko cursed softly as she wrapped bandages around her arm. The top layer of skin had been completely worn off from when she fell against that tree running from the missing nin. She cursed again when a wave of pain rolled up from her broken leg. Sakura standing next to her looked at her worriedly.

"Are you okay Atsuko-san?" Sakura whispered. She wasn't sure why she bothered to do so, Kakashi and the blonde were fighting rather loudly, explosions occurring all over the place.

"No. My leg is broken, my arm is missing half it's skin, my heart feels like I've been stabbed, and I'm having difficulty breathing. And I'm about to do something I know is a very stupid bad idea. Unfortunately I don't have much of a choice." Atsuko frowned darkly down at her hands.

"You mean the plan?" Sakura asked.

"No. I'm going to use Itami Ayatsuri Tegotae." Atsuko sighed before flexing her fingers through swift seals. Blue chakra glowed in a sharp spike from her two front fingers, she closed her eyes before tapping at her temples. From beneath her temples spread a black, swirling design. It wrapped it's way down her checks and around her neck. Sakura couldn't help but place a hand over her mouth in shock and disgust. The design was an angry, pulsing thing and the chakra in it seemed tainted somehow.

"What did you just do?" Sakura asked, words muffled by the hand pressed to her lips.

"You're a medic-nin right? Ever hear of the Itami Hajimari Ayatsuru?" Atsuko smiled over at Sakura.

"Sure. I can even perform it." Sakura finally took her hand away and frowned. "What's that got to do with anything.

"Well the Itami Hajimari Ayatsuru takes away all feelings of pain in one or two areas, and there are a couple of areas that it can't affect. The brain for one, and the heart. The Itami Ayatsuri Tegotae however affects _everything._" Atsuko had begun to move swiftly through the trees at this point and Sakura was having to nearly jog to keep up.

"But, isn't that really dangerous?" Sakura asked her. "I mean you could die, and you wouldn't feel a thing!"

"I know,but I don't have a choice." Atsuko suddenly stopped moving and Sakura almost bumped into her. "What are you doing?"

"Huh?" Sakura looked bewildered.

"The plan! Why are you here with me? Go find a tree and carve into it already!" Atsuko waved her hands wildly above her head before stomping off.

Sakura felt her eye twitch before turning to do what Atsuko had commanded. After a moment though she paused and turned back to the older woman.

"This plan… You're sure it's going to work?" Sakura called out to her somewhat hesitantly. Atsuko stopped her stomping long enough to turn around a level a considering look on Sakura.

"I would estimate that we have about a ten percent chance of survival. That lowers to about… oh let's say point oh-oh-one if the other one shows up." Atsuko tapped her lip thoughtfully before nodding. "Yes, that sounds about right."

Sakura blanched greatly, the air left her lungs in a great whoosh and a heavy feeling of nausea swept through her. Hearing the odds spelled out that matter-of-factly was just too much for her to comprehend.

"Ten percent? Wait, what other one?" Sakura felt her eyes widen impossibly large in shock and fear.

"Well, last time I dealt with this wanker some other red head idiot showed up. Thankfully he didn't seem much interested in me. He let me go no problem, I don't think he much cared either way 'bout me. I'm not sure what he's capable of, but if he's this tool's companion I'm sure he's at least close to the other strength wise." Atsuko calmly told her.

"WHY DIDN'T YOU TELL US THIS SOONER!" Sakura lost her cool to yell.

"I guess it didn't seem pertinent." Atsuko shrugged.

"Pertinent? It's damn pertinent!" Sakura bit out through clenched teeth.

"You think so?" Atsuko shrugged again before looking at Sakura like she was an idiot. "If you're so concerned then shouldn't we begin the plan? The sooner we put it in motion the more likely we all are to get out of this, you know?"

"Fine, but after this is over, I don't care if you are the client, I'm so kicking your ass." Sakura told her.

"Oh? I may not be much of a shinobi but I'm sure I can handle a child like you." Atsuko smirked back at her.

"Humph, we'll see about that. I doubt you're much of anything." Sakura retorted, hand on hip, flipping her hair over her shoulder.

"Watch it pretty girl. I don't think you're ready to play in the big leagues yet." Atsuko frowned, narrowing her eyes slightly.

"Yeah? Well neither are you." Sakura frowned just as deeply, breathing deeply through her nose.

"Heh, you really think you could take me on?" Atsuko looked surprised and a little incredulous.

"Why not? You said it yourself you aren't a shinobi, and if that so called Taijutsu match of your's was any indication you aren't much a fighter of any sort."

"Yes, okay, I'll grant you that." Atsuko interrupted, waving a hand idly in the air as an explosion occurred off in the distance.

"I may not be the best Kunoichi in the world, or even Konoha, but I do know that it doesn't take much to defeat a civilian." Sakura told her levelly.

"I'm not exactly a civilian." Another explosion occurred then, closer this time. "Shit, this isn't the time for this. You can settle whatever problems you have with me later, but right now just stick to the fucking plan, got it Pink-chan?"

"When I hand your ass to you you're gonna have to start calling me Haruno-san." Sakura replied even as she turned and set off once more through the trees.

"Brats nowadays, I swear." Atsuko shook her head as she too started walking again. "In my day we knew how to respect adults." She stopped again and smack her forehead with a hand. "Great, now I sound like the one-eyed dinosaur."

--

Sakura was growing frustrated at an amazing rate. She'd been looking for Sasuke and Naruto for the past five minutes but had yet to find either. She supposed she should be glad that their hiding abilities were so good (she refused to think her tracking was that bad) but she was starting to get desperate to find them now.

Taking a left turn around a tree she hit another person coming from the right. They're combined momentum sent both stumbling back.

"Sasuke-kun?" Sakura said as she regained her balance.

"Hn." Was the short reply.

"Thank god I found you!" Sakura cheered. "Do you know where Naruto is?" She began looking around as though Naruto might pop out of the trees.

"I'm right here." Just then Naruto did pop out of the trees, nearly giving Sakura a heart attack.

"Don't do that!" Sakura swatted at him but missed as he hastily dodged to hide behind Sasuke, before remembering he was mad at Sasuke and returning back to Sakura's side.

"Are you guys ready to start the plan?" Naruto asked them.

"Yeah but where should we do it at. Atsuko-san said that she'd be able to do the final part wherever we decided at." Sakura replied shifting nervously from foot to foot. The explosions had stopped all of a sudden and Sakura was unsure whether or not that was good news.

"I saw a smaller clearing about five hundred meters that way." Sasuke said rather blandly pointing to the right.

"That should work." Sakura quipped. "You both know what you're supposed to do, right?"

Sasuke simply nodded in the affirmative but Naruto felt the need to defend himself against the perceived slight to his intelligence.

"I am the only one with experience in fuinjutsu here, remember? I think I know what I'm doing." Naruto proceeded to turn and stalk away.

"…. Do you think he's realized he just went left?" Sakura asked Sasuke.

Naruto then came sheepishly back and started heading towards the right.

"Yes."

--

They had just finished carving a large, complex seal into their chosen trees when Atsuko came out of the trees behind Naruto.

"Boo." She said as she came to stand right behind Naruto.

"Gack!" Naruto jumped. He'd been so focused on his carving, knowing what could happen if he did it wrong that he hadn't noticed Atsuko come up silently. "Don't do that!"

"Are you twerps finished yet? Cyclops-kun is leading the other Cyclops-teme here." Atsuko looked tired and out of breath and incredibly nervous.

"We've just finished, Atsuko-san." Sakura told her stepping back from her own tree to look at the Fuinjutsu Master.

"Great." Atsuko grabbed Naruto by the hand and then looked back to Sakura. "You got a scalpel?"

"Umm, I think so." Sakura dug around in one of the two pouches at her waist before pulling her hand out victoriously. "Yes, here."

"Fabulous." Atsuko snatched the scalpel away, nearly cutting off Sakura's finger in the process.

"Hey, watch it!" Sakura yelped.

"Sorry, sorry." Atsuko muttered rolling her eyes so hard her whole head went with them. Then, without a moments noticed she sliced open Naruto's hand and placed it on the seal he'd carved.

The intricate seal immediately began glowing and as soon as the last reaches of the seal glowed blue Atsuko yanked Naruto's hand off the seal and wrapped it in a gauze bandage.

"The rest of you do the same. Use the scalpel, it will hurt less and create a smaller wound, be sure to properly bandage it afterwards, we don't want it getting infected. Good way to lose your hand that is." Atsuko tossed the scalpel back to Sakura who squeaked and barely managed to catch it by the handle. She then snatched Naruto by the collar of his jacket and began dragging him after her through the trees.

"Hey! Where are you taking me!" Naruto called trying to wriggle free.

"I still need to do my part, and you're coming with, just in case." Atsuko told him.

"Incase of what?" Naruto asked still trying to break loose of her hold. Atsuko had a grip like iron!

"Just… incase." Atsuko replied quietly.

"Fine." Loud noises suddenly started coming closer and the two of them both turned to look over their shoulders.

"Damn. We're running out of time." Atsuko yanked harder at Naruto's collar before roughly tossing him to the ground at the base of a large tree. "This should do. Give me a kunai." She held her hand out to Naruto and flexed her fingers in an 'hurry up' motion.

"Jeez, don't you have anything of your own?" He grumbled even as he pulled one out and handed it to her handle first.

"Of course not. What do I look like, a freakin' boy scout?" Atsuko made a face at him before turning and slamming the kunai into the tree. Using all her strength she made the large, complex pattern of the seal. She was halfway done when a large, blue covered body was hurled into the clearing.

"Sensei!" Sakura called watching as the blonde missing nin followed his thrown enemy and heft him by the hair.

"Idiot." The blonde man sneered before attempting to backhand Kakashi.

Kakashi caught him by the wrist and shoved the other man back, causing strands of gray hair to be ripped out painfully when he was released. Kakashi leapt up to kick the man under the jaw but dodged and then sent sprawling by a retaliatory kick to the side.

"Damn." Naruto cursed before starting to run out to Kakashi's aid. Twenty feet to the right Sasuke was preparing to do the same.

"Wait!" Atsuko yelled at both of them. "Stoic-kun get Kakashi out of there and as for you, Lame-ass Brat," She leveled a dark look at the young blond and looked more seriously in that moment than he'd ever seen her before. "You just do what you have to, got it?"

Naruto nodded before resuming his sprint into the clearing. Once there he attempted to surprise the missing nin by leaping up from behind to land a blow. The missing nin however turned at the last moment and caught Naruto by the ankle. He swung around using Naruto's momentum to fling the boy into a tree.

Naruto managed to flip mid-air to hit the tree with his feet, launching himself back towards his opponent. The missing-nin meanwhile rushed to meet him. The two collided with a smack of flesh. They stood, hand to hand trying to force the other back. Naruto was badly losing.

Sasuke had managed to get Kakashi up enough to limp back over to where Atsuko was frantically attempting to finish her seal. As soon as Sasuke had deposited Kakashi next to a tree for Sakura to begin first aid Atsuko gave a triumphant cry and pulled the kunai out of the tree only to slice it into her hand.

"Done!" Atsuko called before a strangled yell sounded from the clearing. Atsuko turned to look and her eyes widened. The ex-Iwa nin had Naruto by the throat and had left him a foot off the ground.

"You are really weird, un." The man muttered in thought. "And familiar, un. Do I know you, un?"

"Naruto! Get the hell out of there!" Atsuko yelled in abject horror as her bloody hand hovered over the seal carved into the trunk of the tree.

"Gack!" Was the only reply Naruto could make as the other blonde squinted into his face. A look of recognition came over him as his eye widened almost comically.

"It can't be-" He began only to be cut off by Atsuko's screeching voice.

"GET THE FUCK AWAY FROM HIM!" Half a second later the missing-nin was forced to drop Naruto and roll out of the way as the kunai Atsuko borrowed plus two from Sasuke were thrown at his head.

As soon as Naruto's feet touched the ground he practically flew over to his teams side as Atsuko slammed her hand down on her seal.

"Fuinjutsu: Chakra Fuujikomeru Ori!"

A blinding light came up as walls of shimmering air formed a dome around the Akatsuki nin.

"Now, we run again!" Atsuko then proceeded to tear away from the clearing as though the hounds of hell were at his heels. "That won't hold him forever. We must get to the border before he gets loose!"

The others wasted no time in following her.

--

"So you failed to kill the Seal Bitch, again?" The voice that filtered from the other side of the shimmering cage caused the trapped blonde to cease his assault on the walls and turn around.

"Danna! Get me out of here, un!" He cried.

"Deidara, you moron. You were supposed to be back five hours ago." The red head closed his eyes in exasperation.

"But I saw her again, un. I was gonna kill her, un." Deidara tried to explain.

"And you failed, again. And she made a fool of you."

"Yeah but I saw him, the nine-tailed brat, un. He was with Sajiki, un." Deidara said. "Let me out, un. We can still catch him, un."

"…How long have you been in here?"

"Twenty minutes maybe, un."

"They must have reached to border by now. We won't catch them." The red head then turned to leave.

"Hey! Don't leave me here Danna!"

"You got yourself in there, you can get yourself out."

--

The moment the group had made it safely to the watch camp on the Fire side of the border Atsuko collapsed to the ground, seals that had been lit fading to black or disappearing altogether.

"Sajiki-san!" Sakura cried sliding to a stop at Atsuko's side. Konoha shinobi who had been stationed at the watch camp gathered around. This was the most interesting thing to happen there in weeks!

"Eh? What are you doing here Kakashi?" Out of the crowd came Asuma, cigarette dangling as he talked. His team followed close behind him.

"Sasuke-kun! You're here too! It must be fate bringing us together!" Ino attempted to launch herself at Sasuke but a strategically placed foot courtesy of Sakura caused her to trip and miss.

"We were escorting Sajiki-san to Konoha when we ran into a little trouble." Kakashi calmly explained, not letting on to how badly he was hurt although he was pretty sure two ribs were broken.

"You call a homicidal maniac a little trouble!" Sakura screamed. "I need medics here immediately, Sajiki-san is in awful shape."

"No…" A broken voice spoke up from the ground as a hand latched onto Sakura's dress. "I don't want any of thess damn shinobi working on me. I'll tell you what to do and you'll treat me."

"Sajiki-san, I don't think I'm experienced enough to-"

"You probably have more experience than anyone else here, Sakura-chan." Kakashi told her. "Medics aren't often sent out to peaceful borders."

"But-"

"Listen, Pink-chan, do this for me and I promise to call you by your name." Atsuko told her. "Just follow my instructions. I just need to take care of the worst of it, then I can take care of the rest."

"But you're not a medic-nin!" Sakura argued.

"But I am fully certified as a civilian doctor." Atsuko replied back.

"Sakura-chan, Yuuka-chan told me back in Iwa that Atsuko was one of the greatest medical geniuses around. I'm sure she knows what she's doing." Naruto tried to comfort Sakura.

"…Fine, but I need a sterile room to work in, and a table or bed, and a full first aid kit." Sakura stood up and looked around at the shinobi gathered there. "You." She pointed to a random chunnin. "Carry her, and be careful, she has several broken bones and there may be internal bleeding."

As Sakura walked off with Atsuko in tow Naruto and Sasuke both slid to the ground as Kakashi carefully lowered himself beside them.

"I can't believe her plan worked." Naruto said.

"It did seem a tad simplistic." Sasuke agreed.

"The best plans usually are." Kakashi lectured. "Complicated plans will just confuse those involved in them."

"So what exactly did happen." Asuma interrupted as he and his team joined the three on the ground.

"It's exactly as I said. We ran into some trouble while escorting Sajiki-san through Rain." Kakashi told him. He couldn't say anything about the Akatsuki with Shikamaru, Ino, and Chouji there.

"You look like crap Naruto." Ino told him.

"I'd like to see you after running around for two hours and getting into a fight with an S-class missing nin!" Naruto retorted.

"S-class? Yeah right, stop lying Naruto!"

"No, I believe he was classified as an S-class missing nin from Iwa. Perhaps you should ask your Tsuchikage friend more about him, Naruto." Kakashi mused.

"Tsuchikage… You mean that short lady?" Ino asked, remembering the day they had gone to meet Team Seven on their way back from Iwa.

"Yeah, her name's Yamamoto Yuuka. Baa-chan's already asking her though." Naruto answered both of them.

"I bet Sasuke-kun had to protect Naruto from the missing nin." Ino snickered.

"…No. I never engaged the enemy. Naruto did though, to save Kakashi." Sasuke stated.

"What? I don't believe it." Ino protested.

"I do. Remember back during the invasion. Naruto fought that Suna nin." Shikamaru spoke up.

"Eh? What are you talking about?" Chouji asked around a mouthful of chips.

"Swallow then talk!" Ino snapped at him. "And we told you about that already."

"Oh yeah." Chouji said after swallowing.

"Anyways it was Atsuko that saved us. She did this big seal cage thing to trap the guy and then she ran like hell. Although me, Sakura-chan, and Sasuke-teme helped while Kakashi-sensei held the guy off." Naruto said.

"Cool." Ino finally said. "So what are you going to do now?"

"Well, I'm sure as soon as she's able to travel Sajiki-san will be out here hitting us with her fan telling us not to dawdle." Kakashi scratched his chin.

"Yeah, the crazy old bitch would be just like that." Naruto replied darkly before his head snapped forward. Sakura stood behind him shaking her head.

"Don't call her that." Sakura lectured. "It's unprofessional."

"Whatever." Naruto muttered. Sakura's eyebrow twitched dangerously.

"How is Sajiki?" Sasuke asked to forestall an argument. He didn't really care if they fought but he was tired and his head hurt and those two were loud separately so together and fighting the noise was astounding.

"Not good. I did what I could but she lost consciousness half-way through so I kinda of had to wing it. I think I used every medical jutsu I was ever taught on her." Sakura moaned as she too slid to the ground in between Naruto and Sasuke. "It's weird though."

"What was weird, Sakura-chan?" Kakashi asked when she didn't continue.

"Her heart should have been going a mile a minute, but the beat was perfectly regular at seventy-five beats per minute. That's the ideal heart rate." Sakura explained.

"That's good though isn't Forehead?" Ino asked.

"No it's not Pig! When doing anything strenuous or when ever there is adrenaline you're heart beats faster to pump blood faster to the rest of your body so you get oxygen to your muscles and stuff. It's no wonder she was experiencing severe muscle atrophy." Sakura sneered at Ino. "What I can't figure out is why her heart was beating like that."

"Maybe it has to do with that heart disease she told us she had." Naruto pointed out.

"Yeah, maybe, but I kinda thought she was lying about that."

--

Later that night, just as Naruto was drifting to sleep he was awoken by someone slapping him in the shoulder.

"Gah!" He gasped out in surprise. "Sasuke-teme, what the hell?"

Sasuke motioned for Naruto to follow him outside. Naruto huffed as he did so, mumbling to himself dark things.

"What?" Naruto asked once they were outside and out of hearing of anyone else.

"…Why did you lie?" Sasuke asked blandly.

"This again?" Naruto snorted through his nose. "Look, I already said I was sorry."

"But why did you lie?" Sasuke asked again.

"It's not like I was the first person to ever lie in the history of ever!" Naruto threw his hands up in exasperation.

"Why did you lie?"

"Haven't we been through this already? I told you didn't I?" Sasuke stared at him silently. "Fine! I lied because I was scared, alright! But you know I wasn't trying to lie to you or Sakura. I was trying to lie to myself."

"Why?"

"I don't know. Maybe I just really needed to." Naruto turned to leave but before he got more than a few steps away Sasuke stopped him.

"Naruto, I, I understand now." Sasuke said quietly.

"Well, at least someone does cause I don't get it at all."

--

**Author's Note Reprise: **This chapter is unbeta'd simply because I've delayed it so long I just want to get the damn thing posted. I hope not to take so long next time because the next chapter is the start of the chunnin exams, something I'm really looking forward to typing up.

The One-Shot will be up sooner or later, I swear.

**Fuinjutsu Notes:**

Fuinjutsu: Itami Ayatsuri Tegotae (Sealing Arts: Pain Manipulation Effect) - Makes the entire body impervious to pain, including internal organs like the heart and brain. Is extremely dangerous to use, and as such is classified as an A-rank jutsu.

Fuinjutsu: Chakra Fuujikomeru Ori! (Sealing Arts: Chakra Containment Cage) - It requires four anchor seals to work, each is needed to be activated by blood. Once active nothing with a chakra signature can get in or out of the cage until it's either destroyed from the outside or the chakra infused in it runs out, which typically takes an hour. The last seal to be activated also requires the performance of hand-seals. This seal is a B-ranked jutsu.

**World Notes: **Because Kishi doesn't give me a big enough world to play in I'm using stuff from the anime. Deal. leafninjadotcom/countrydotphp is my source of countries, although I'm not using all of them.

**PREVIEW: **

"Wow, is it just me or do these people look grouchy." Naruto whispered to his teammates.

"They probably don't get enough fiber." Sakura whispered back.

**REVIEW OR I'LL EAT YOU! RAWGH! 65+ Reviews Gets A OMAKE!**


	19. Chapter 19

**An Alternative Path **

**Author's note: **I'm not going to apologize, seriously I'm not. I can't help the state of my life. Anyways this is a bridge chapter, but it sets up a lot of interesting stuff, so if you're smart you'll pay attention.

**IMPORTANT: **This story is AU. That means ALTERNATE UNIVERSE. That means I can do whatever the hell I want and you have to suck it up and deal.

**BTW: **I don't own Naruto! I do however own Sajiki Atsuko, Yamamoto Yuuka, and Kimura Shuu. You can borrow them if you give me credit.

**The Chunnin Exams, Finally!**

Nothing, absolutely nothing, could ruin this day for Sakura. Not Sasuke and his perpetual bad mood, not Naruto and his perpetual irritatingly happy mood, not Kakashi's damn tardy tendencies, or even Ino mocking her forehead. Nothing was going to ruin this day. Or else.

Sakura fairly skipped onto the bridge, which had, just recently been renamed Team Seven Bridge by the population of shinobi, the civilians however still called it Nadeshiko Bridge, the spoilsports. She skipped right on up to Sasuke and to his immense displeasure hugged him, then she skipped to Naruto and to his immense joy hugged him, and then she skipped to Kakashi and to his immense entertainment proceeded to try to snatch his book away so she could throw it over the side of Team Seven Bridge.

"Why are you so happy today Sakura?" Kakashi asked with a smile. He knew why she was so happy, but given that Sakura was literally vibrating with the urge to share her good news he thought he'd humor her, just this once.

"Tsunade-sama said she'd make me an apprentice with her! All I have to do is pass the test to become a field medic! I'm so happy! Eeee!" Sakura couldn't help the fan girl reminiscent squeal she emitted. Irrepressible happiness was like that. Although she did look apologetic when Naruto nearly fell off the bridge in a violent flinch and Sasuke and Kakashi both had to clamp hands over their ears.

Sakura's glee was contagious and Naruto was quickly jumping around with her in transports as Sasuke merely told her he was happy for here. Kakashi looked on with pride at his team before idly flipping a page in his book and returning to the affair going on between the daimyo's wife and the shinobi that was her bodyguard.

"Wait." Naruto stopped mid celebratory whoop, and looked slightly confused. "What's the field medic test?"

"Well, to pass it you have to show that you are competent enough to be sent out with a team as a medic. The idea is to have chunnin level skills. In fact it's another way to become chunnin besides passing the chunnin exams. Medic nins have to study so much and have so much control that basically it's assumed that if they passed the test that they can handle chunnin level work." Sakura explained patiently to her audience of two, Kakashi was not listening.

"So, you're going to become a chunnin?" Naruto asked. He felt a little guilty, but he didn't want Sakura to be a chunnin yet, he wanted her to take the exams with him and Sasuke.

"Well, I'm not actually ready for the test yet. I've been studying with Shizune-san but there is still a lot I need to learn, what happened with Atsuko-san taught me that." Sakura looked down at the ground.

In the end she'd only been able to stabilize Atsuko. Atsuko's contingency seals, designed to automatically work on healing her when she was seriously injured, had healed the worst of her wounds and then when she'd awoken she was able to treat her own injuries the rest of the way. Sakura was very thankful for Atsuko's skills, otherwise she knew they would have lost the older woman.

Atsuko refused to talk about it but they all knew how very close she came to dying that day. Instead she had hit Naruto over the head and ordered them all to carry her to Konoha.

They refused and Atsuko walked.

Still, before she left Atsuko had come to visit Sakura, and after handing her a thick scroll had told her to keep working at it. She'd even referred to Sakura by name once before leaving on her way to Iwa. A freakishly happy Iwa nin at her side.

Sakura had opened the scroll to find it filled with half-completed medic jutsu theories. A small note at the top told her that one day Atsuko expected the scroll back, completed, that is if it wasn't too much for her.

"Besides, I really want to take the exam with you guys." Sakura smiled and Naruto whooped, as Sasuke considered rolling his eyes.

Kakashi grinned then offered to take them out to lunch to celebrate.

Sakura and Naruto instantly began fighting over what to have.

Sakura didn't care what Naruto said. Ramen all the time just wasn't good for you, even if it did have vegetables in it.

---

"I think that's enough for today, Team." Kakashi called out five hours later to an exhausted Team Seven. After lunch, which had not, to Naruto's everlasting disappointment, been ramen, they had made their way to Training Ground Seven in order to begin their typical afternoon team training. "I have some important news to share with you all."

"Can you share it while I collapse, cause I'm gonna collapse now." Sakura told him before then proceeding to fall backwards onto the ground. Naruto quickly began flailing around and asking her if she was okay. Sasuke in irritation threw a rock at his head. It bounced off and did little discernable damage, much to his disappointment.

"Back to the topic on hand, I've entered all of you in the upcoming chunnin exam." Kakashi smiled at them while inwardly preparing for the inevitable shrieks from both Sakura and Naruto. He was not let down.

"Seriously!" Naruto shouted out.

"No, he's lying, of course seriously Naruto! It's been six months since the Iwa chunnin exams after all." Sakura would have hit Naruto upside his head if it hadn't involved moving. No wonder Kakashi had been working them so hard lately without missions. They hadn't been on a C-rank mission since escorting Atsuko.

"Oh yeah." Naruto mused.

"Where is it to be held this year Kakashi?" Sasuke asked, ignoring the bickering of his two teammates. A feat he had grown adept at over the past few months.

"Here in Konoha!" Kakashi told them brightly.

"But wasn't it just held here not too long ago?" Sakura lifted herself up on her elbows and gave Kakashi a confused look.

"Yes, but thanks to Naruto's admittedly freakish luck at gambling Tsunade-sama managed to secure the exams for Konoha this year as well." Kakashi pulled out his blindingly orange book, bored now with the conversation.

"I don't understand, what does Naruto's gambling and the exams have to do with each other?" Sakura scratched at her forehead.

"… They don't seem to have much in common." Sasuke reluctantly agreed.

Naruto meanwhile was muttering darkly under his breath. Something about 'never again' and having giant frogs sit on old perverts. The rest of Team Seven ignored him.

"The chunnin exams work on a bid system, or more accurately on a bribe system. Representatives on the Five Great Shinobi Nations get together in a neutral area, usually the Land of Rivers, and basically whoever can afford to pay the others the most gets to hold the exams." He explained patiently to his students. "It's very important for a country to be able to hold the exams on a regular basis, as it is the greatest opportunity for a country to show its strength, without war."

"Well, I guess I can see it now." Sakura said looking at Naruto with sympathy. How long must he have had to gamble in order to assure Konoha the exams?

"Hey, hey! What exactly is the exam like?" Naruto asked waving his hand in front of Kakashi's face.

"Well, I can't tell you too much but I can say this, the first two tests are held back to back over several days. The first test is always a written one and the second test is always a simulated mission. The third test takes place a month later and is always one on one hand to hand combat. If too many people pass the second test preliminaries will be held. That's rare though." Kakashi closed his book and lightly tapped Naruto on the head with it. "That's all I can say about the exams. They start in a week so you all better be ready."

Kakashi left his students to discuss their plans for the exams, confident in their ability to succeed.

---

A week later found Sakura nearly demolishing Naruto's door.

"NARUTO! GET UP!" She screamed through the thin wood as she pounded heavily on the door knocker.

Sasuke meanwhile was taking a more direct approach and crawled through Naruto's bedroom window. He wrinkled his nose at the chaos of scrolls, ninja gear, and clothing. Then he noticed the full glass of water on Naruto's bedside table. Smirking he lifted it over Naruto's head before letting it pour.

Naruto woke sputtering after his impromptu shower.

"What the hell! You bastard! What did you do that for?" Naruto attempted to launch himself at Sasuke but got tangled in his bed sheets and only managed to fall to the floor in an undignified position.

"We're going to be late for the exams unless you get up." Sasuke told him stoically.

"Eh? What time is it?" Naruto flung some clothing around until he discovered his clock on the floor. "Eh! We're gonna be late!" Naruto quickly took off towards his bathroom while Sasuke sighed and went to open the door for Sakura.

Sakura stumbled forward when the door she'd been pushing against suddenly swung forward. Swiping her long hair from where it slid into her eyes she regained her balance quickly, knowing that Sasuke wouldn't help her if she fell.

"Is he up?" She asked him, swing the door shut behind her with a bang.

"Yeah." Sasuke pointed over his shoulder with his thumb, towards Naruto's bathroom.

"Good. I'll make him some breakfast so we can get out of here sooner." Sakura stomped her way to Naruto's kitchen. She angrily started banging pots and pans around, the few pots and pans Naruto owned anyway. "Have you eaten Sasuke-kun?"

Sasuke grunted in reply but Sakura went ahead and took it as a no.

"I might as well make enough for all three of us then." Using eggs she'd brought over earlier in the week and vegetables Kakashi had forced on the boy Sakura quickly whipped up some omelets.

She had just slid the last omelet onto a plate when Naruto came running into his kitchen/dining/living area. He wore lose black pants and was hastily pulling an orange shirt over his head. Naruto yelped has he stepped on a stray scroll, which rolled under his foot and caused him to land hard on his backside.

"Stop fooling around and eat!" Sakura called at him, sitting in her accustomed chair and digging into her own food. Sasuke pulled out his own chair next to her and began eating as well.

"Jeez, no one ask me if I'm okay or anything." Naruto mumbled flinging himself into the spot on the other side from Sakura. He ate quickly and with few manners until Sakura hit him and growled at him to be polite.

"Has everyone finished?" Sakura asked calmly after a minute. She received nods from both Sasuke and Naruto, Naruto's nod being distinctly more enthusiastic. "THEN WHY ARE WE JUST SITTING HERE!? LET'S GO!"

Sakura's sudden outburst stunned the two boys, leaving it up to her to push them out the door. Once outside the two remembered themselves and the team ran as a group towards the academy, the site of the first exam, before they could enter though Sakura pulled Naruto and Sasuke to a stop.

"You both ready?" She asked them, a hint of nerves in her voice.

"Yes!" Naruto cheered pumping his fist in the air. "We are going to own this exam!"

"We're all ready Sakura." Sasuke told her. "We should get inside before we're late."

"You're right. We've trained to damn much under that slave driver Kakashi to fail now." Sakura said, her confidence coming back.

"Right!"

---

After by-passing a strangely crowded second floor ("It is on the third floor isn't it?" Naruto had asked. "Yeah, I don't know what they're doing." Sakura had replied.) they made it to the third floor only to run into their sensei.

"Good. I was afraid your tendencies to show off might hold you up but you just walked right by that genjutsu." Kakashi praised them.

"What genjutsu?" Naruto scratched his head and looked back at his teammates, they both shrugged their shoulders.

"I thought I felt something off down there, but I didn't pay it any attention." Sakura looked thoughtful.

"You mean you didn't even notice the Genjutsu?" Kakashi asked.

His team nodded back at him as one.

"I don't know whether to feel proud that you can automatically ignore such low level genjutsus or worried that you didn't see it." Kakashi sighed. "Whatever, just go in there and try not to kill each other."

"Jeez, what bit your behind?" Naruto muttered, swiftly ducking into the room when Kakashi tried to swat him in the head in retaliation.

Sakura and Sasuke slid in behind him and gave the room a once over. It was already filled with shinobi, teams of three seated around dozens of small tables. Sakura could not locate an empty one.

"Naruto! This is all your fault! You slept in and now there are no more tables!" Sakura made to throttle Naruto but Naruto dodged behind Sasuke.

"I'm sorry! It's Jiraiya's fault! He came back a couple days ago and we've been training really hard! I was tired!" Naruto shouted back at her behind the relative safety of Sasuke.

Naruto's proclamation caused those who knew who Jiraiya was to start whispering. However before any of the whisperers could approach to get confirmation someone else approached Team Seven.

"Excuse me?" Team Seven turned to see a young man maybe a couple years older than themselves standing there with his teammates behind him. He wore an Iwa headband. "You are Uzumaki Naruto?"

"Yeah." Naruto stepped out from behind Sasuke and straightened up. He came to the other man's chin. "Why do you want to know?"

The Iwa-nin ignored him, turning to Sasuke and Sakura instead.

"Then you would be Uchiha-san and Haruno-san?" He asked.

"Yes." Sasuke answered for them both. He and Naruto both placed themselves in front of Sakura, and action that did not go unnoticed by the rest of the room.

"I am Matsuda Jun, of Iwa." Jun bowed to them, surprising everyone in the classroom who were blatantly eavesdropping. "Yamamoto-sama asked me to convey some things to you."

At hearing Yuuka's name Naruto instantly relaxed along with Sakura, Sasuke however remained on guard.

"Oh, okay." Naruto regained his cheerful disposition. "What did Yuuka-chan want?" Suddenly a force from behind snapped his head forward.

"Naruto! Don't call the Tsuchikage that!" Sakura scolded. "I'm sorry for his disrespect, but he's a moron." She explained to the Iwa shinobi who were looking on in slight awe.

"That's alright, Yamamoto-sama told me he might call her that." Jun held up a hand as if to wave the matter away. "But Yamamoto-sama wanted me to wish you luck on the exams and apologize once again for the misunderstanding earlier this year, she hopes you do not think any less of Iwa for it."

"We do not blame Iwa or the Tsuchikage for what transpired." Sasuke stated blandly.

"Yeah, what he said, just less bastard-like." Naruto agreed.

"Still, Yamamoto-sama asked me to give you some things to apologize as well as wish you luck on the exams." Jun motioned for one of his teammates to hand him a small bag. Reaching into it he pulled out a small package wrapped in brown paper and secured with twine. "For Haruno-san." He said holding it out to her. Sakura took it with a slight bow.

"May I open it?" She asked.

"Yamamoto-sama asked me to convey your opinions of the gifts back to her, so please."

Sakura carefully untied the twine and undid the paper. A gold, metallic object fell into her hand. Sakura held it up so her teammates to see. It was a necklace, a round, heavy locket secured on a long chain.

"It's so pretty!" Sakura squealed.

"You dropped this." Sasuke handed her a small piece of white paper, folded into half.

Sakura read it aloud. "Dear Haruno-san, I recall you mentioning that you liked my jewelry so I had this commissioned for you. I have one just like it with a picture of my team from my genin days. I hope you enjoy it. Good luck in the exams. Godaime Tsuchikage Yamamoto Yuuka."

"That's so nice of her!" Sakura cried. "I'll have to put a picture of Team Seven in it later." She commented as she slipped it over her head.

Jun held out another package. "This is for Uchiha-san."

This package, while wrapped the same was larger and much heavier. Sasuke did not bother to be as neat as Sakura while opening his but he did not simply rip off the paper either.

Inside was a pouch filled with ten kunai. Sasuke took one out to assess the quality as Sakura read the note that had been inside the pouch.

"Uchiha-san, I honestly did not know what you might like but I figured one could never go wrong with giving a shinobi kunai. This kunai are forged of the strongest steel Iwa can produce. I hope they aid you in your test. Tsuchikage."

"These are very nice." Sasuke commented feeling the heft of one. "Perfectly balanced."

"Uzumaki-san, this is for you." Jun handed Naruto a letter with no package.

Naruto looked confused as he opened his letter and began reading aloud.

"Naruto-kun, I would like to thank you again for joining me that day in my office for tea. You reminded me of many things I had forgotten, including just why I had become the Tsuchikage. Your gift is something very special to me, indeed it dates back to the last Great War, and as such I wish to deliver it to you personally. Therefore I will see in the final round of the exams to give it to you. I will not bother to wish you luck, for I know that failure is not an option for the man who will be the next Hokage. Yuuka."

"Wow. I wonder what she's going to give you." Sakura commented as she peered over Naruto's shoulder to see the letter for herself. She was surprised to note that she had to stand on her toes to do so. Had Naruto grown?

"Don't know, but I bet it's awesome!" Naruto smiled at her.

"Thank you for delivering these to us, Matsuda-san." Sakura told the Iwa-nin who stood with a frown.

"Don't." He stopped her. "I did so because it was an order from Yamamoto-sama. I don't understand why she likes you so much, and I don't care. Once I do better than you in the exams Yamamoto-sama will favor me again."

"Again?" Sasuke asked.

"I was her favorite before he came along." Jun waved his hand in Naruto's direction. "She was always interested in my training and progress, she always said that I would make a great shinobi. But after you all came to Iwa, then all she could talk about was this genin from Konoha. How he was so brave, how he was so smart, so talented, his will power and his love of his nation, how he would become the next Hokage, mark her words. I can't stand it. What's so special about you?"

"Hey! You can't talk to Naruto like that!" Sakura told him sticking a finger in his face. "It's not his fault Yamamoto-sama likes him better than you."

"Sakura-chan calm down, it's okay!" Naruto grabbed her by the shoulder to pull her back. Once she had stepped back Naruto turned back to Jun. "If you have a problem with me we can settle it later. Right now we both need to be focusing on the exam, right?"

With his words a door slammed open behind them, causing a few people to jump, Naruto one of them. He whirled around to confront whoever had surprised him.

"What the hell! Don't do that!" He cried pointing an accusing finger at the genin team that had just entered. It was a trio of Konoha nin that appeared even younger than he was.

Sakura guessed that they had graduated just this year.

"Hmm? A proper shinobi wouldn't have been surprised." A boy with brown hair and pale green eyes sneered at Naruto.

"What was that?" Naruto took a step forward but he was held back by Sakura. Sakura almost laughed at their role reversal from just moments before.

"Naruto, don't, remember we need to focus on the exam." Sakura pulled on his arm and was thankful when he stopped. Naruto could have pulled her right off her feet she knew if he'd wanted. "Besides, he's just a rookie."

"I'll have you know I graduated top from my class." The snide boy stated.

"So did Sasuke." Sakura sneered back. "Besides, if you were the best in your class then that means that you also have the dead last in your team, meaning your team isn't so hot." Sakura suddenly realized what she said. "No offense Naruto."

"It's okay. I really only sucked on the book stuff and Bunshin anyway." Naruto smiled at her.

"We should go sit down. There is an empty table over by Team Eight." Sasuke interrupted with his usual calm.

"Team Eight's here?" Naruto asked, craning his head around to look.

"Yes, Team Ten too as well as Team Gai, you'd have noticed if you were paying any attention, Dobe." If Sasuke were a lesser person, he would have rolled his eyes.

"What was that Teme?" Naruto growled out.

"Both of you stop it." Sakura admonished. "Jeez, what people must think of us." Sakura dropped her head into her hands in embarrassment, although she had to admit that she contributed to the embarrassment as well. "Come on, let's just sit. Imagine what Kakashi-sensei would do if he saw the way we've been acting."

"What are you talking about? He wouldn't do anything, the lazy pervert." Naruto mumbled the lost part.

"For once I have to agree with the dobe." Sasuke frowned at the thought.

"Whatever." Sakura felt her eye twitch at the thought that they were probably correct. Kakashi did little to stop their arguments, with each other and strangers, that is unless they were on a mission. "Let's go." Sakura latched onto both of their arms and dragged them to where Team Eight was sitting.

"Hello Hinata-chan, Kiba-kun, Shino-kun. How are you all doing?" Sakura asked as she maneuvered both of the boys into seats, her own seat to be between them.

"Ano, we-we're doing fine." Hinata spoke up when it became clear neither of her teammates would. "A-and you, Sakura-san?"

"I'm fine, so are these two." Sakura smiled at her before taking her seat and once again focusing on her teammates. "Alright, Kakashi-sensei said this would be a written test. I asked Ino to tell me about the last one, but I doubt they'll use the same exam. I can imagine though that it isn't a straight forward test, most likely we'll have to 'look underneath the underneath'." She shared a smile with her teammates at the words their sensei always used.

"What was the trick to the last exam? Even if they change it, it won't hurt us to know." Sasuke asked practically.

"Well, apparently you were supposed to cheat to answer the questions, but if you got caught three times you and your whole team was out, even though it was an individual test. The last question though was the only one that mattered. Basically you had to choose to continue taking the exams no matter what." Sakura explained quickly.

"Jeez, that does sound tricky." Naruto stated as he leaned back in his chair. The front legs of his chair came off the ground and Naruto balanced precariously in the air. "But it does sound like something they could repeat so soon."

"Yes, they'll likely choose another type of written test. Judging from the way they arranged the seating in this room it will be a team effort." Sasuke reasoned, hands steepled in front of his face.

"Well that's good." Naruto breathed a sigh of relief. "I wasn't so sure I could pass a written test, but we have Sakura-chan so I'm sure we'll ace this."

"You don't know that for sure though, they might still split us up or something." Sakura cautioned him. "Also," Here she broke off to whap Naruto in the back of the head, forcing the front legs of his chair to come down with a bang as Naruto cried out in pain. "DON'T SIT IN A CHAIR LIKE THAT! YOU FALL OVER AND SPLIT YOUR SKULL OPEN AND I WON'T BE THE ONE TO FIX IT!" Sakura didn't notice as her outburst caused all eyes to once again be on them but Sasuke did and he let his head drop into his hands with a long suffering sigh.

"Oy! Quiet!" A loud baritone voice called out from the front as the sound of a huge stack of papers hitting a desk rang out through the large room. "Time to get started you worms. I'm Ibiki, and for the next hour, I rule your pathetic lives."

---

**OMAKE: What does it do? Or Atsuko really shouldn't design seals drunk.**

Naruto, could very easily he thought, come to hate Sajiki Atsuko. It wasn't enough that she annoyed them all the way home, implying that there were somewhat incompetent because they'd allowed her to get hurt so bad. No that wasn't enough for Sajiki Atsuko, who Naruto had decided just wasn't nice.

Once back in Konoha, while she was doing whatever it was that Tsunade had asked her (or rather bribed her) she had forced Naruto into becoming, what basically amounted to, her errand boy.

The thought alone made Naruto grind his teeth. It was really unfair. Why weren't Sakura or Sasuke forced to do this?

Oh yeah, they weren't as fun to mess with as Naruto was.

Really that answer made him regret asking her.

Still, this, this certainly couldn't be in the perimeters of what he was expected to do.

"What does it do?" Naruto asked suspiciously, frowning down at the paper seal diagram he held in his hand.

"Hmm, not sure." Atsuko answered brightly. "Do it and we'll find out."

"What? How can you not know what it does! You designed it!" Naruto waved his hands around wildly in an attempt to illustrate just how crazy stupid he thought Atsuko was.

"Well, I was with Tsu-chan last night, and somehow I ended up dead drunk, and I must have designed that seal to do something, but I can't remember now that I'm sober, so, I thought I'd have you try it out. That takes much shorter than deconstructing it and reconstructing it would." Atsuko popped her paper fan into existence and bopped Naruto on the head with it. "Just do the seal. It won't kill you… probably."

"Probably?" Naruto's eyes bugged out. "That's it, no way am I doing this."

"If you don't do it that means you fail your mission." Atsuko smirked nastily at him. "After all your mission is to assist me in whatever I needed until I leave Konoha."

Naruto gave it about as much thought as he gave everything in his life. Meaning very little.

"Fine, but if this kills me I'll haunt you." Naruto warned, jabbing a finger in her face. With that he carefully performed the seal, which apparently didn't have a name yet. He drew it on a blank piece of paper handed to him by Atsuko, and invested roughly the amount of chakra Atsuko told him to. There was a satisfying poof of smoke (which did not make him flinch violently, no matter what she said), but after that nothing.

"Nothing happened." Naruto told Atsuko, turning to look at her. She was bent double holding her sides, strange noises coming from her throat past lips she'd clamped closed. "Hey! Are you okay, Atsuko?" Naruto leapt from his chair to her side, concern giving way to panic before he realized she was laughing.

"Oh dear lord, your hair." Atsuko finally managed, tears streaming down her face as she pointed at his hair. "It's green. The seal turns your hair green apparently. What on Earth possessed me to make a seal that turns people's hair green?" She laughed even harder.

"What?" Naruto said slowly before it dawned on him. "Green! Turn it back, turn it back right now!"

"I don't know how." Atsuko collapsed to the ground, her legs no longer able to support her shaking from laughter frame. "But, at least I know what that seal does now. It was really bugging me."

"Next time you can test your own damn seals. I don't care if it makes me fail a mission.

**Author's Note Reprise: **So the next chapter will be the first exam, and the one after that will be the second exam, and then you'll just have to wait and see because I don't want to give anything away. I already have the exams planned out, but feel free to suggest things, who knows, I might like your suggestion better.

This chapter has not been beta'd. It may or may not be in the future. It depends on if Snicky still likes me xD

Also: Two new side stories are up, as well as two new oneshots for xxxHOLiC and Ghost Hunt, please feel free to read and review.

**REVIEW OR I'LL EAT YOU!!! RAWRGH!!!!**


	20. Chapter 20

**An Alternative Path**

**Author's note:** I have to admit I really do love you all, you've been so supportive during my long absence and largely unthreatening, what more could an author ask for? There really is no excuse as to the lateness of this chapter, no excuse, all I can say is life, it's hard, and inspiration, it's fleeting. Still, I hope you like this chapter.

**IMPORTANT:** This story is AU. That means ALTERNATE UNIVERSE. That means I can do whatever the hell I want and you have to suck it up and deal.

**BTW:** I don't own Naruto! I do however own Sajiki Atsuko, Yamamoto Yuuka, and Kimura Shuu. You can borrow them if you give me credit.

**Extreme Test Taking**

It was amazing just how quickly a room of mostly adolescent shinobi could shut up when confronted with a large, heavily scarred man with a deep scowl. Sakura was swift to shut her own mouth from the minute Ibiki opened his, Sasuke too, Naruto however needed a kick in the shins to keep quiet.

"You are all here because someone was under the, most likely misguided, impression that you have what it takes to make chuunin, I'm here to prove that person wrong." The smile he gave the large group of genin was heading dangerously into leer territory. "But don't worry; I'm sure not all of you will fail miserably, just most."

Sakura gulped. The nervous butterflies Sasuke and Naruto had managed to dispel earlier with a few words were back with a vengeance. Sasuke was looking grim and somewhat annoyed, and Naruto… Naruto was inspecting a loose thread on his shirt. Sakura restrained the urge to wallop him in the head and settled for cradling her own in her hands. He could at least pretend to be paying attention.

"The test is simple." Ibiki went on to say, pacing leisurely across the front of the room. "Simple, though, is not to be confused with easy. You will work with the rest of your team-" Ibiki was cut off by loud sighs of relief rushing around the room. "Quiet! You will work with your team, but you are not to communicate with them! Any signs of communication will be marked down, and if your team is caught three times, that's it, you are out of the exam. The chuunin around the room are here to make sure the rules are obeyed. The test is comprised of ten questions; your team must answer at least seven of them to pass. If you are incapable of getting seven points, you fail." He smiled cruelly at the examinees.

"The test looks like this." Ibiki held up a single sheet of paper with two large circular markings on them and a couple of lines of text. "These are seals, you write the answers in them and the seal will shift to the next question, basically if you can't even answer the first question, you're screwed. Screwed, that is, unless you get the last one right." Here he pointed to the second seal. "I'll give this question out fifty minutes into the exam, get it right, you get seven points, get it wrong, and you lose seven points."

"Now, the last question is optional, but your point total at the end of this exam determines the status with which you enter the second exam, and trust me, you want to get as many points as you can."

He paused as the chuunin around the room began passing out the test, facedown.

"You have fifty minutes for the first nine questions, and remember you have all you need to pass this test." Ibiki sat down behind the large desk in the front of the room. "Begin!"

The sounds of shuffling paper filled the rooms as teams flipped over their exams, and then the sounds of absolute silence as everyone got a look at the first question.

_1. Name the creator of the A rank jutsu Raiton: Dai Shuurai. _

Not only was such a jutsu far above the ability of a typical genin but most shinobi never bothered to learn the creators of a jutsu, as, when it came down to it, it just didn't matter much, especially not the creator of such an obscure jutsu as the Dai Shuurai.

Both Naruto and Sasuke were about ready to groan in dismay, as several in the room were already doing when Sakura grabbed the pen and filled in the blank in the middle of the seal. They all watched in small amazement as the ink of the seal and question seemed to melt away and then arrange itself into the form of another question.

_2. Give the exact latitude and longitude of the Great Gulf of the Land of Rivers._

Thankfully Sakura was able to answer this one as well, and the two after it, and that's when she got stuck on the fifth question.

_5. Name the General of the army that claimed victory at the Battle of Broken Reeds during the First Great Shinobi War._

Sakura had heard of that small, obscure battle, and she even knew which country won it (Kiri) but she could not for the life of her remember the name of the general, if she had ever known it in the first place. She looked with wide eyes at Naruto and Sasuke, begging silently for one of them to please, please, know the answer but they both just stared back, equally wide eyed. Sakura felt her heart sink at those looks.

Naruto then begin tapping absently under his left eye, looking for all the world like he was merely thinking, but the sharpness of his gaze on Sasuke told another story. He was silently asking if Sasuke's Sharingan could do anything to help, but Sasuke simply leaned his head on one hand and turned to look away. A motion both Naruto and Sakura interpreted as no.

As both Naruto and Sasuke settled in to wait, clearly hoping to be able to answer the tenth question and pass, Sakura looked absently around the room.

Several teams had already been disqualified and escorted out of the room, the tables they had sat at now empty. She had heard some of them try to argue but in the end that had only made things worse for them. One was not meant to argue with one's superiors. Sakura let her eyes roam over the rest of the room slowly.

She remembered this room from her academy days. The kunoichi used to use it occasionally for lessons; tea ceremony, flower arrangement, dancing, kimono tying, and other things that now seemed fairly useless, although who was to say as to their true worth? The tables were far more numerous and closer together than she remembered but otherwise it was unchanged.

Her eyes soon alighted on an old bit of graffiti, carved messily in to the wall under one of the windows. _'Odate Naoyuki is number one'_ it announced. Sakura shook her head over the silliness of boys, before a thought hit her like a punch from Tsunade. Odate Naoyuki was the name of the creator of Raiton: Dai Shuurai, and the answer to the first question.

For a moment Sakura couldn't breathe as she forced her eyes to calmly continue their examination of the room. She thought back to the last thing Ibiki had said and nearly cursed herself for a fool. The answers had to be spread out all over the room; she just had to find them. Sakura would have laughed is she wasn't afraid it would be taken as communication.

First though she had to confirm her theory. Her eyes drifted to the map on the left wall, a note had been pinned to it, ostensibly with the coordinates to the Fire Country capital, but Sakura knew those weren't the right coordinates, that they were in fact the ones she had written down for question two. She soon found the answers for questions three and four and began hunting excitedly for the answer to the fifth one.

Soon she came to a small poster by the door. It was a list of names of the students of the class, stars next to the names to indicate merit. The fifth name on the list however was a male's name, the only male's name on the list. This was her answer.

She hurriedly snatched the pen away from Naruto, who had been playing with it absently, and wrote the name in the seal, nearly giving a shout of triumph when it dissolved into the next question. Both Naruto and Sasuke looked at her with relief as they took in the next question.

_6. Give the exact spatial requirements of an area allowance seal meant to affect three square acres._

As Sakura began looking around the room once more for the answer Naruto stole the pen back from her and wrote in a long string of numbers. Just as Sakura was about to yell at him for wrecking their chances at a perfect score (because pen did not erase they really only had one chance to get it right) the seal reconfigured itself into the next question. Both Sakura and Sasuke nearly gapped at Naruto in shock before turning their attention to the seventh question.

_7. Give the exact temperature at which human bones melt._

This time it was Sasuke who took the pen away and wrote in the answer before Sakura could find it in the room. Team Seven held its collective breath as they waited for the seal to do its job and tell them whether or not they got the answer right. They all gave an almost audible sigh of relief when the eighth question appeared.

Naruto and Sasuke leaned back in their chairs, clearly not caring now that they had passed the first test for sure. Sakura however, wanting as much help as she could get in the second test went about filling in the last two answers from the clues she found about the room.

After fifteen more minutes, in which eleven more teams were escorted out of the room, Ibiki stood from his relaxed position behind the sensei's desk at the front of the room. Instantly every pair of eyes in the room was on him.

"It's been fifty minutes and if you haven't managed to get kicked out, that means it's time for the last question. This question is worth seven points, remember, so you could still pass even if you haven't answered a single other question as long as you get this one right. However if you get it wrong you could still fail even if you got all the other nine right. While this question is optional the more points you have on this test the greater your advantage on the next test, which I should add is at least three times as hard as this one." Ibiki gave them a dark smirk as many in the room began fidgeting, obviously wondering what would be best. "The question is short, name the greatest weapon in a shinobi's arsenal. You have ten minutes."

Sakura was confused, whether or not a weapon was great depend solely on the skill of the one using it. The finest crafted sword in the world wouldn't do much good if one didn't know how to wield it properly. But on the flip side even a dull blade could be deadly in the hands of a master. There must be something more to this question; she clearly needed to think differently, needed to look underneath the underneath.

Sakura turned to both Naruto and Sasuke trying to gauge if they had any sort of idea. Naruto lifted one shoulder minutely before letting it fall again, and Sasuke closed his eyes for a couple of heartbeats. They didn't know either. Sakura tried to think back over the past sixteen months she had spent with her team, tried to think about everything Kakashi had ever taught them. From that first lesson with Naruto tied to a log post to... to... Sakura felt like smacking herself.

What was the one thing Kakashi-sensei had been instilling in them from the moment they had graduated? Teamwork. Teamwork had to be the answer, it just had to be!

Sakura smiled brilliantly as she paused with the pen over the paper. Silently she was asking if her teammates trusted her, if they trusted in her knowledge and her place in the team. For some reason this felt like a bigger moment than just whether or not they passed this test. She could have cried when Sasuke slowly nodded his head and Naruto simply smiled back at her.

With hesitant fingers she wrote in the answer she believed so strongly in. Bile rose up in her throat when nothing immediately happened. What if she was wrong? What if that wasn't the right answer and she had just doomed her teammates to fail the exam? They would be so mad at her, they might hate her. Please, please, _please_ let it be the right answer.

Sakura felt all the air leave her lungs in a great rush when the seal slowly began shifting, characters formed, then words, and when it was done Sakura wanted to weep in relief.

Congratulations. You pass.

Naruto was nearly vibrating with joy and it was clear he wanted to grab Sakura up in a giant bear hug. Only fear of wrecking what Sakura had achieved for them stayed his hands. Sasuke actually let slip a small but genuine smile and to the others of Team Seven he might as well have been dancing from happiness.

They paid little attention as Ibiki announced time up. Or when some teams had to be literally dragged from the room, shouting threats and obscenities the whole way. They didn't even pay attention when Ibiki tried to explain the real purpose behind the test.

When the door slammed open and a red haired woman stormed into the room however, _that_ they paid attention too.

---

The woman who had marched her way into the room with stomping boots and wild red hair was not, as kunoichi went, beautiful. She wasn't ugly, not by any means, but she wasn't beautiful. She was perhaps averagely pretty. She'd be prettier however without the fierce scowl on her face.

She looked angry, and frustrated, and, quite frankly, as though she desired desperately to be anywhere but where she was.

"What the fuck, Ibiki," were the first words out of her mouth. "You telling me all these little fuckers fucking passed?"

"It's fewer than last time." Ibiki commented with a shrug. He clearly was used to this woman and her foul mouth. The genin in the room not so much. They stared in blatant astonishment at the woman.

"Aw fuck it." The woman sighed, running a hand through her thick hair. "Listen the fuck up." she called out to the room at large. "'Cause I don't repeat myself. My name is Kobayashi Sakiko and I'm the proctor for the next fucking exam. Now gather your shit and let's get the fuck out of here." She turned to stomp her way out the door when Ibiki grabbed hold of her arm to stop her.

"Forgetting something?" He asked her with an amused look on his face. He held a sheet of paper up at her. "The scores for this exam."

"Yeah, yeah, thanks a fucking lot." Sakiko told him as she snatched the sheet away from him before restarting her irritated march to the door.

The genin blinked blankly in the direction the woman had left, clearly at a loss as to what they should do. Thirty seconds passed before the woman stuck her head back in the door.

"What the fuck are ya'll waiting for? A fucking formal invitation? Get your fucking asses out here if you want to take this fucking test." The woman retreated mumbling dark things as the genin in the room stood simultaneously and fought their way through the door.

On the way to the location of the second test Team Seven studied the proctor of the next exam closely, or at least Sakura did. She didn't know what the heck Sasuke and Naruto were doing.

The woman was dressed oddly for a kunoichi. Not that most kunoichi dressed in any semblance of normal, but Kobayashi Sakiko wasn't wearing clothes a typical shinobi would wear, starting with her boots.

The sandals that shinobi wore were specially designed not to make sound when walking, leave footprints, or slip; they were also made of special materials that made channeling chakra through them easier. This woman wore heavy soled leather boots with steel toes and heels, the type of boots a civilian construction worker might wear, but not boots that made tree or water walking easier. They were loud too, and left clear tracks.

Her pants were odd too. High waisted, and coming down to the tops of her boots, they were made of a thick, heavy canvas that fit closely to her legs. Sakura couldn't imagine that they offered much flexibility or range of movement and they made loud, rustling noises as she walked. The kunai pouch she had wrapped around her right leg was larger than average and she had several more hanging off a belt around her waist, odd unless one needed a great many supplies. Although Sakura supposed she shouldn't talk since she had several pouches filled with medical supplies.

"She has something up her sleeves," Sasuke interrupted Sakura's musing.

"You mean for the exam?" she asked as Naruto turned to walk backwards so he could face them for this conversation.

"No, I mean she literally has something up her sleeves. Weapons, probably."

"Yeah, I thought so too. No one wears sleeves that loose unless they wanna hide weapons or arm movements." Naruto nodded.

Sakura turned her attention back to the woman swiftly leading the group of genin. Sakiko was wearing a loose haori over her shirt; the haori was a plain tan color so it was unlikely she wore it for any fashionable purpose. Studying the haori led Sakura to another observation, Sakiko's arms and hands were heavily bandaged down to the first knuckle. For a kunoichi she showed very little skin.

"It's got to be weapons." Sasuke said. "The way the sleeves move, I can almost make out the forms of things strapped to her arms and the insides of the sleeves."

"You know, I don't think I've ever heard of her family." Sakura murmured. "Have either of you?" Sasuke grunted in the negative and Naruto shook his head.

"No, but I've met her before." He said nonchalantly.

"What? When?" Sakura asked him.

"Few days ago, week maybe? She came into Baa-chan's office for a debriefing. She's been out at the border for the last two years." Naruto shrugged like it wasn't important.

"Why?" Sasuke asked him.

"Why what?" Naruto asked back, confused "Why did she come to Baa-chan's office? I just said-"

"No, why was she at the border for two years?" Sasuke sounded exasperated.

"Oh, border patrol." Naruto answered, shrugging again.

"That's weird. A jounin, even a special jounin, wouldn't be sent on border patrol for so long, not unless it was a punishment." Sakura mused.

"Nah, couldn't be that, she was real mad about being made to come back." Naruto flapped a hand dismissively, turning back around as the group came to a halt outside a large wall. "Said she wanted to be back at the border, something about her training..."

"So you don't really know anything about her." Sakura stated, frowning.

"Well, I know one thing, whatever she was training in it does a lot of damage." Naruto replied. "Baa-chan was reading her the riot act about damage to the forests out there."

The next thing Sakura knew she was being pushed back behind Sasuke as Naruto reached out his hand to catch something. Suddenly there was a near silent explosion and Sakura's vision was blocked by thick black smoke.

"Naruto!" Sakura screamed shrilly. Sasuke she knew was okay as his hand was still on her shoulder but Naruto was out of sight.

"I'm fine!" Naruto's voice replied quickly as the black smoke began to dissipate. Within moments all was clear again.

"If you fuckers in the back are done talking maybe we could get back to the fucking second exam?" Sakiko stood at the front of the group with a deep scowl on her face.

"Did you throw that?" Sasuke asked her.

"Uh, fuck yeah I did." She rolled her eyes so hard her head followed. "Now, if you'd fucking shut up..." She left the rest of the sentence hanging.

"Right, sorry." Sakura apologized for herself and her teammates while inwardly cursing the rude woman to hell.

"Yeah, what-fucking-ever. Let's get started. See this big-ass fucking gate behind me?" She waved at the two-story tall wood and iron gate. "Behind this is Training Grounds fucking 17, and the site for your next exam."

"TG17 is special for many fucking reasons. One, it's the largest fucking training grounds we got to offer. Over twenty square fucking kilometers. Two, it's got a very... unique terrain." The smirk Sakiko sent the group of genin caused them to shift uncomfortably. "The training ground has been split into three fucking parts; the first part is an incredibly fucking dense forest, the second part a wide flat field with a fast as all fuck running river in the middle, and the third part alternates between a fucking sandy and a fucking rocky desert."

"Anyone got any fucking ideas as to the fucking nature of your next fucking exam?" Sakiko's smile was not nice and no one seemed to willing to answer her.

Finally Sakura rose to the challenge.

"The second exam is always a mock mission. I would hazard a guess that we are to escort something through all three terrains of the training ground."

"Well give the girl a fucking gold star, but you're only half right." Sakiko brought something out from behind her back. It was a small wooden box, the type of thing a bracelet might come in from the jewelers. "There are actually two separate fucking missions here. Half of you fuckers will be given this box, you then have three fucking days to get to the safe house located somewhere in there." She waved a lazy hand in the general area of behind. "The other half of you fucks don't have it so easy, 'cause you have to steal this box away from another team and then still escort it through TG17."

"What's in the box?" Someone called out, Sakura couldn't tell who.

"Hmm, well how can I put this...?" Sakiko looked thoughtful for a moment before glaring at the one who dared to ask. "None ya fucking business! Open that fucking box before you get to the fucking safe house and I can only say this, you won't have to fucking worry about being chuunin, mostly you'll just have to worry for your fucking hide, got it?"

The look she gave them was enough to make most of the chuunin hopefuls gulp and some to even take a step back. They all nodded in agreement though.

"Good. Now it's not just the terrain, the time limit, and the other fuckers you'll have to deal with, for the past three fucking days I have been setting up a great manner of traps throughout the area. None of them are particularly deadly, unless you're complete fucking morons, but they are meant to slow or even halt your progress. Don't think these are any fucking simple traps either, my family was well known for its trap laying skills." Sakiko leaned back on her heels for a moment. "I think that's fucking everything."

"The first proctor said our scores would affect this exam, but how?" A girl asked loudly. "Was he lying?"

"Oh yeah, knew I fucking forgot something. You'll enter the training ground in twenty minute intervals based on your fucking score, highest scores going first, obviously." Sakiko explained to them.

"Doesn't seem like much of an advantage." Someone in the crowd murmured loud enough to be heard.

"Che, what the fuck makes you say that? Well, if you don't fucking see it I ain't gonna be the one to fucking explain it to you, idiot." The woman shook her head sadly at the state of the youth in front of her.

"What about supplies?" Another person spoke up from the crowd.

"What the fuck about them?" Sakiko asked back. "You should have come prepared for fucking anything, and if you didn't it's your own fucking fault. 'Sides there are plenty of fucking resources in there, if you use your head to find them."

"Can we bring back more than one box?" A particularly bloodthirsty looking boy from Kiri asked.

"What the fuck is this? Twenty questions time? Fuck. Yeah you can bring back as many fucking boxes as you want, why the fuck should I care? In fact the less of you fuckers who pass the greater advantage those who do pass will have next exam."

"Are there any limits to what we can and cannot do?" The same boy asked her.

"You can't open the box, and you can't leave the training grounds. Other than that do whatever the fuck you want."

"Even kill?" He questioned with a smile.

"Sure, if you die you got no one to blame but yourself." Sakiko's voice was cold and hard when she told them that. "Anymore fucking questions?"

No one in the crowd spoke up this time, and several were eyeing the Kiri team warily.

"Great. Let's get the fuck started." The smile she gave them was narrow-eyed and toothy, and terribly disconcerting.

---

**OMAKE:** **Green is not your best color.**

Naruto was seriously considering killing Sajiki Atsuko. He was sure he could do it. She might have all those seals on her side but she had to sleep at some point, and when she did Naruto could swoop in and BAM! She'd be dead.

After all a woman couldn't go around turning a man's hair green (GREEN!) without expecting some kind of retribution, right? Especially when she couldn't turn it back.

"It's not that funny." Naruto grumpily told Sakura and Kakashi as they sat snickering at him on stools at the Ichiraku ramen stand. And was Sasuke's lip twitching? It was! The bastard.

"Yes it is." Sakura disagreed, finally dissolving into full blown laughter at his predicament.

"You know Naruto-kun, I think it kinda suits you, but it does kind of clash terribly with the orange t-shirt," Kakashi added insult to injury.

"Shut up. It's all that bitch's fault. She was laughing so hard she couldn't come up with a way to reverse it." Naruto glared at the counter as he crossed his arms with a huff. "I couldn't take her voice anymore and left."

"Did you try henge?" Sasuke asked him, voice strained.

"Of course I did Teme! It doesn't work! Look!" Naruto attempted to perform henge on himself and while the usual amount of smoke appeared the green hair did not, unfortunately, disappear.

"Hmm." Kakashi hummed thoughtfully. "I wonder how she managed that?"

"Who cares! What I want to know is how soon I can get rid of it!" Naruto ran an agitated hand through his bright green hair. "I tried reading the notes she made last night when she designed this stupid thing but apparently she was so dead drunk that the notes don't actually make any sense. At least I don't think sentences like _'2h4 drizli comes to 7g3 rats'_ make much since."

"...what?" Sakura asked after a moment, clearly trying to work that sentence out in her head.

"I know!" Naruto threw both his hands up wildly, narrowly missing smacking Sasuke in the face.

"Well, surely she'll fix it eventually, right? After she stops laughing that is." Sakura tried to console him.

"Che, I wouldn't count on it, it'd be just like her to leave it like this."

See Part Three in the next installment!

–

**Author's Note Reprise: **Please excuse the crappyness of the omake, frankly I just wasn't feeling very funny.

In other news: Kobayashi Sakiko is the name of a dear friend of mine who used to attend university with me. She went back to Nagano (where I visited her this summer) and so I no longer get to see her. The only things Kobayashi Sakiko in the story has in common with Saki-chan is the name and the usage of the word fuck (although the fictional Sakiko uses it far more often). It is Saki-chan's favorite word in the English language. And let me tell you, there is nothing as disconcerting than seeing this tiny little girl saying the word fuck with absolutely no malice in her voice.

Once again I make no promises as to when the next chapter will be out, however I will say that I have more motivation to write, so hopefully it will not take nine months.

Also: 1700 reviews, FTW?

**REVIEW OR I'LL EAT YOU!!! RAWRGH!!!! 100 Reviews Gets An Omake!**


	21. Chapter 21

**An Alternative Path**

**Author's note: **Well, it's later than I had hoped to get it out, but it is indeed out, yay! I had thought to do the whole second exam in one chapter, but that would be a really long chapter, haha, so I changed my mind, because then you probably wouldn't get anything for, say, another nine months. I'm so bad.

**IMPORTANT:** This story is AU. That means ALTERNATE UNIVERSE. That means I can do whatever the hell I want and you have to suck it up and deal.

**BTW:** I don't own Naruto! I do however own Sajiki Atsuko, Yamamoto Yuuka, Kobayashi Sakiko, and Kimura Shuu. You can borrow them if you give me credit.

**The Far Goal**

Sakiko began hunting around her person for the list Ibiki had given her as soon as she finished explaining the second exam to the brats, first checking the pouches on her belt, then up the sleeves of her haori.

"Where the fuck could I have put it?" She thought, glaring at the ground in front of her while the genin began to mill around anxiously, holding hushed conversations with their teams over strategy.

"Ah!" She exclaimed, reaching a hand behind herself under her haori, whipping out the rolled up list. Sakura sincerely hoped it hadn't been down her pants. "Let's see... Hmm, four of you teams of fuckers got perfect scores. Congratu-fucking-lations. Team Seven of Konoha, Team Ten of Konoha, Team Three of Iwa, and Team Thirteen of Waterfall, pick a fucking number, one through twenty."

"Why?" asked one of the shinobi of Waterfall.

"Cause I can't have you all fucking going in a once! Pick a fucking number, closest goes first, then fucking second, and so on." Sakiko rolled her eyes and began mumbling something about 'fucking morons'.

"Ah, thirteen then." The same shinobi picked.

"Three." Said Matsuda Jun, the apparent leader of Team Three from Iwa.

"Ten!" Ino cheered from her place between Chouji and Shikamaru, near the front of the group of genin.

"Twenty." Naruto shouted out before Sakura could say seven, she turned to begin throttling him when Sakiko interupted.

"Huh." Sakiko grunted. "Twenty was the fucking number. Team Seven is first, then Thirteen, Ten, and Three."

"You got it right." Sakura said somewhat astonished, hands placed loosely around his neck.

"Game of chance, remember?" Sasuke reminded her, annoyed at the apparent denseness of his teammates. Naruto never did lose if it came down to probability.

"Oh yeah. I forgot." Sakura pulled her hands away from Naruto and ran one through her hair in embarrassment.

"Oi! Are you fuckers coming up here or what?" Sakiko called back to them, clearly irritated, although Naruto wondered if she was ever _not_ irritated.

Team Seven was quick to push through the crowd of genin to stand in front of Sakiko.

"Alright, here's the fucking deal, you go through that tent and then into the training area. The boxes are given out randomly; there is no fucking pattern, got it?" This was address to the group at large, where most nodded absently.

"Then you fucks get going!" She shooed Team Seven up to the tent.

The tent wasn't very large. Made from canvas with seals stitched in them to prevent spying it was really only large enough for the table and two chairs (and chuunin in them) that occupied it. Sasuke felt very uncomfortable squashed in between his two teammates.

"You guys first?" The female chuunin asked with a smile. Her partner besides her gave them an assessing look.

"Yes." Sasuke answered her, elbowing Naruto in the stomach to attempt to get more room. While the grunt Naruto let out was satisfying the blonde truly didn't have anywhere to move.

"Congratulations! In order to see whether or not you start out with a box you need to draw a chopstick." She held out a strange wooden box filled with small holes. In each hole was a wooden chopstick, the cheap kind you might get at a food stand, standing straight up.

"If the tip is red, you get a box, it it's blue, you don't." Her partner elaborated when they looked confused.

"Naruto, you choose." Sakura ordered. "And if you don't get red I'll kick you into next week."

Naruto glanced over at Sakura nervously as he reached out for a chopstick. He pulled one out slowly and sighed in relief when the tip was red.

"Red!" Sakura launched herself at Naruto, nearly knocking Sasuke over in the process, gripping him hard enough to choke him with a hug. "It's red!"

Sasuke sighed as he took the small, wooden box the woman held out to him. It was heavier than expected and had a metal catch on one side to keep it closed.

"Which of us is going to carry it?" He asked once Sakura had released a slightly dazed Naruto.

"I don't know. What do you think Sasuke-kun?" Sakura asked back.

"Naruto, you carry it." Sasuke tossed the box to Naruto who scrambled to catch it.

"Eh? Why?" Naruto replied, scratching his head.

"You're the toughest." Sasuke explained simply. "Plus no one would think we'd give the dobe the box."

"Why you bastard-" Naruto began only to be cut off by a fist to the shoulder courtesy of Sakura.

"No fighting!" She admonished. "And we need to go." With that she shoved her way to the other side of the tent from which they'd entered which opened up the training ground.

The forest they stepped into was incredibly dense, just as Sakiko had said. The trees were large and close together with thick canopies that blocked out most of the sunlight. The ground under their feet was springy and smelled strongly of moss and decaying vegetation. The cries of birds and chittering of monkeys could be heard throughout the forest and a set of tracks nearby hinted that large cats might also call the forest home. The air was cooler due to the shade and the scent of moisture hung in the air.

"Amazing." Sakura murmured, for some reason it felt as though the forest demanded hushed voices and cautious steps. It felt like an ancient place, a magic place, for all that it wasn't so old. "I read about this place, but I never imagined..."

"What do you mean, you read about it?" Sasuke asked her, equally quiet.

"Well, when Ino explained the last exam, and then Kakashi-sensei said we'd be doing the exam here in Konoha, I started looking into the training grounds, trying to get us an edge." Sakura explained softly. "I mean, I figured they wouldn't hold the second test out of the village."

"What did you learn?" He asked, moving to examine the tracks left by what might have been a tiger.

"The only parts of this area that are natural are the field and river, the rest was created using jutsu during the Shodaime and Nidaime's time. It's a miniature eco system in here, it even boasts its own rain cycle. A marvelous feat of ninjutsu, although obviously many different kinds were used." Sakura explained. "But more important than that, I know where the rest station is." Sakura turned to give them a brilliant smile as the boys stood dumbstruck at her admission.

"How?" Sasuke asked her.

"Turns out, the records have maps of the training grounds. While I don't remember everything, I do remember that the rest station is on the other side of the training grounds, almost directly across from here." Sakura was very proud of herself for this accomplishment. Sometimes it really did pay to be prepared for everything.

"That's awesome! So all we have to do is head straight from here!" Naruto raised a fist in celebration. "That's easy!"

"That's stupid." Sasuke told him with a scowl. "Most people will probably go straight. We want to avoid people."

"Sasuke-kun's right, I figure we should hug the wall and travel left. It will take longer but we are less likely to encounter other teams and traps." Sakura planned thoughtfully, fingers at her lips to bite nervously down on a nail.

"Why don't we go right?" Naruto pointed in said direction.

"Most people are right handed and so tend to veer towards the right." Sakura explained with the tone of a teacher.

"Oh. Well, to the left it is!" Naruto cheered before turning to the right and stalking off.

"...How long until he realizes that's the wrong direction?" Sakura asked Sasuke after a moment.

Naruto then came back with a sheepish expression, heading towards the left with an awkward shuffle.

"He is such a moron." Sasuke lamented before following.

---

Sakiko whistled in a bored manner as she leaned back in her chair in the center of the exam monitoring station. This building was built to the side of the training ground and was only temporary. It had taken a small group of builders only a few days to build it and it would take even less time to tear it down when the exams were concluded. Generators had been set up to power the equipment and simple desks and chairs crowded the sole room.

Almost one hundred closed circuit cameras had been placed in well concealed locations in the forest, running off of batteries that in all honesty cost more than most d-rank missions. Sakiko didn't know where Tsunade had gotten all the money for the various equipment, and she wasn't sure she wanted to know as the source was probably on the shady side. Still, the twenty monitors that could switch between five cameras each were useful, as was the veritable brigade of chuunin Sakiko had to work under her.

Lord knew she wasn't going to be spending her time watching those damn monitors.

Taking a loop of ninja wire Sakiko began playing cat's cradle with it, ignoring the looks of the chuunin as the wire slit into her fingers. Dozens of thin white scars on her fingers gave evidence to the fact that Sakiko had long grown accustomed to it.

"Sakiko, I thought you were out in the woods somewhere blowing up squirrels or something." A snide voice cut into Sakiko's reverie. She spun her chair around, glad she had forced Tsunade into giving her a proper desk chair, rolling wheels and all.

"Hironori, what the fuck are you doing here?" Sakiko grimaced at the male chuunin in front of her.

"I have been assigned to you. I see your vernacular hasn't improved any since the years we were assigned to the same genin team." Hironori taunted.

"Yeah? And neither has your fucking face." Sakiko swung her chair back around with a simple twist of her spine. "Go watch a fucking monitor or something."

"I was under the impression that this was Anko's gig. Why are you doing it?" Hironori ignored her order.

"Don't ask me, do I look like I fucking know? Or care?" Sakiko rolled her eyes. "I assumed Anko was on a mission or something.

"I see." Hironori placated. "And Tsunade-sama saw fit to ask you to be this exam's proctor?" Condescension was thick in his voice.

"Something about people finding me intimidating, or whatever." Sakiko twisted her head back to look at Hironori over her shoulder. "Apparently I'm fucking scary."

"You got that right." One of the other chuunin at a desk mumbled.

"What was that, fucker?" Sakiko growled in irritation, eye twitching. The chuunin hunched lower in his seat and said nothing. "Thought so."

"Clearly your interpersonal skills haven't improved either." Hironori smirked.

"And yet for all my faults I'm in charge of you! Isn't that a kick in the fucking pants?" Sakiko cackled, pleased with herself.

"Most assuredly." Hironori sighed as he wandered over to relieve one of the other chuunin at the monitors.

"Fucker." Sakiko murmured under her breath. She hated Hironori, always had. Frankly it was amazing they had even made it on the same genin team, although that may have been due more to the efforts of their third teammate and their sensei then their own sense of restraint.

Sakiko returned to her game of cat's cradle with little care. Five hours had passed since the last team had gone in and Sakiko was expecting a few more hours yet until the first team passed.

"Ah, Kobayashi-san?" A chuunin piped up from his place at a monitor.

"What?" barked Sakiko, throwing her ninja wire to the floor in aggravation at being interrupted as she attempted one of the more complicated designs.

"One of the cameras... it just went off." He answered hesitantly.

"What? What do you mean it just fucking went off? Did it get hit?" The cameras were incredibly will hidden and protected, for the amount they cost they had to be.

"Ah, well, I'm not sure, one moment it was working and then...black." The chuunin sounded confused.

"Fuck, those damn things are useless!" Sakiko swore. "You!" She motioned at a random chuunin in a purple shirt. "Go check camera..."

"Camera thirty-two ma'am!"

"Camera thirty-two!" Sakiko finished.

"Yes ma'am!" The chuunin ran out as Sakiko rolled her eyes.

---

Thirty-eight minutes later the chuunin made contact over her headset.

"Kobayashi-san, I think you're gonna want to see this." She said, faint horror in her voice.

"What the fuck is it?" Sakiko snarled into the radio.

"Team six from Iwa has been... eliminated, and the camera has been destroyed." The chuunin explained. "I, I don't think a genin would be capable of this."

"...Fuck." Sakiko said before turning back to the room. "Hironori, Oda, Fushima, with me, the rest of you, watch the monitors and don't so much as fucking blink!" With that Sakiko disappeared.

---

Sakura grumbled as she pulled a broken stick out of her sandal, glad that it hadn't pierced completely through and into her foot, but irritated at it all the same.

They had been making their way cautiously around the perimeter of the training field for several hours now, moving slowly in an attempt to avoid traps and other teams. Team Seven had managed to skirt past eight traps, but two had been activated, the first a simple pitfall Naruto and Sasuke had to pull Sakura out of and the second a weak explosion tag hidden on a branch Naruto had stepped on. That one had been annoying more because it alerted others to their presence than because of the damage it could have done (although Sakura rather suspected that was the point).

Sakura dug in one of the many pouches hanging off her waist for the ration bars (high in nutrients, low in taste) she kept there. She kept one for herself and threw one to Sasuke who was sitting in the tree above her, to Naruto, who was inspecting a tree on the other side of the small clearing they had stopped to take a short break in, she tossed two. She had long since figured out that the demon inside him required more nourishment, often two to three times the amount of calories a normal shinobi consumed (which itself was typically twice the human adult average).

"Careful." Naruto told her as he caught the bars. "I think there's a trap in this tree." He walked around it slowly has he bit into the first bar.

"Really?" Sakura asked from her position on the forest floor. Naruto had proven near invaluable when it came to avoiding traps. Of the eight traps they had bypassed, Naruto had spotted six of them, while she and Sasuke boasted one apiece.

Sakura wondered if his past abilities in setting up pranks lead to his expertise now in avoiding the often embarrassingly simple contraptions.

"Yeah, I'm pretty sure that's a wire up there, but I don't know what for." He spoke with his mouth full, spraying crumbs onto the ground.

"Ugh, Naruto, manners." Sakura wrinkled her nose at the display.

"Sorry Sakura-chan." He replied after a noisy swallow.

"Alright, so we don't touch that tree." Sasuke gestured towards it with his own ration bar before undoing the wrapping to eat it. "What we need to figure out is the best way to get across the field."

"We've never really had to deal with traversing a field undetected before." Sakura pulled her knees up and rest her chin upon them.

"And then there's the river to deal with too. If the current is especially strong water-walking might not work." Sasuke pointed out, stuffing the wrapper of his rations into one of his pockets.

"We could henge into animals and cross it." Naruto suggested, moving away from the tree he'd been inspecting to plop down next to Sakura.

"That might work for you, dobe, but not me or Sakura." Sasuke vetoed his idea.

"Huh? Why not?" asked Naruto.

"Do you know how much chakra it takes to perform a solid henge? And only solid henges allow shinobi to change into things other than people. You can do it, but you have more chakra than four jounin combined! Me and Sasuke-kun? Not so much." Sakura explained.

"Oh, sorry, I didn't realize." Naruto laughed.

"I know a genjutsu—that might help." Sakura spoke up when Naruto was done. "It's pretty low level, but it's handy, it should prevent us from being seen too easily, but I'm not sure I could keep it up over all three of us."

"How does it work?" Sasuke asked curiously. He dropped down from the tree to crouch with Naruto and Sakura.

"It bends light around you, which is why it works best in well lit places, like a wide open field rather than in places with a lot of shadows, like this forest." Sakura waved a hand at their surroundings.

"Bends light?" Confusion was thick in Naruto's voice and he made an odd face as he looked down at the ground, trying to puzzle it out.

"Okay, basically things can only be seen because light bounces off them, got it?" Sakura waited for Naruto (and Sasuke) to nod. "This genjutsu causes light to appear to bend and curve around you, making you difficult to spot, of course the closer people are to you the better chance they have of seeing through it, but it's the best we got, however I think I could only maintain it around two of us."

"Ooh! Ooh! I know!" Naruto raised his hand high above his head and waved it enthusiastically, as if they were still in the academy. "Sasuke can use his freaky eyes to copy you when you do it!"

"One, it's called the Sharingan, please try to remember that, idiot." Sasuke told him disdainfully, "and two, as much as I am loathe to say it, Naruto has a good idea, for once."

"Hey! I have a ton of good ideas! I have good ideas coming out the wazoo." Naruto defended.

"...That sounds slightly painful." Sakura commented absently. "But, yeah that could totally work! Although it still doesn't plan for how we get across the river."

"Naruto, how's your frog summoning going?" Sasuke asked randomly.

"Eh? Fine. Why?" Naruto replied suspiciously.

"Think you could summon a frog to carry us across the river?" Sasuke suggested slyly.

"That's a fabulous idea!" Sakura cheered. "Oh, but I've never seen Naruto summon a frog bigger than a foot tall, aside from Gamabunta, and I really don't think you want to summon him to take us across a river."

"I can summon bigger, I just never needed too before, but I have practiced it with Ero-sennin." Naruto assured her. "I'm sure I could do it."

"I think it's our best shot, if worse comes to worse and we get spotted, we just have to defeat them." Sasuke stated decisively.

"Hell yeah!" Naruto agreed.

"Let's get started then. I'll perform the genjutsu about fifty yards from the edge of the forest." Sakura stood up, dusting dirt and dead leaves from her clothes as she did. Naruto and Sasuke did the same and they all set out again, Naruto in the lead to spot traps.

Suddenly Naruto twisted spastically in mid-step and threw himself to the right, screaming "Get back!" to Sasuke and Sakura.

"Ooo, nicely done. You managed to avoid it. The other's didn't manage that much." A small, thin girl stood where Naruto had been moments before. "Although you didn't avoid it completely, right?" She giggled lightly.

Naruto crouched panting, right arm hanging numb and useless, unmarked but unresponsive from where the girl had managed to tap him on the shoulder, Naruto thanked every deity he had ever heard of that he had noticed her shadow flit across the ground before she could hit him in a place worse than the arm with that attack.

Meanwhile Sakura had leapt up and backwards over the teammate of the girl who attacked Naruto and Sasuke had thrown an arm up to block the kunai from the third member of the threesome.

"If you're looking for a box, we ain't got one." Naruto snarled at the dark haired child who couldn't have been older than eleven.

"Like I'd trust anything my enemies said." The girl laughed in his face before rushing forwards once more to slam her knee into Naruto's stomach. "Besides, who said I wanted one?"

---

Kobayashi Sakiko was not happy. In fact she was pissed, very pissed as she inspected the corpses of Team Six of Iwa.

Two, while assassinated nearly perfectly from behind with single wide cuts across the neck, were still within the realm of believability for genin to have done. The third however...

"Fuck me." Sakiko said without inflection. "Did you find the camera?"

"What's left of it." Fushima said bitterly, holding the remains of the camera in her hands. It had been shattered by a well thrown kunai. Or what Sakiko assumed had been a kunai, she couldn't be sure as Fushima hadn't found one yet.

"Fuck, you know how much one of those fucking things costs?" Sakiko asked. Oda opened his mouth to answer when Sakiko glared at him. "That was rhetorical, dumbass."

"I don't see what about this makes you think it couldn't have been genin." Hironori spoke snidely. "Exceptionally talented genin, but genin all the same."

"This fucking incompetence of yours is the reason why I am a jounin, albeit a special jounin, and you are not, and never will be. Look at this body." Sakiko pointed to the body of the third genin at her feet.

"I see nothing wrong with it." Hironori spat out.

"Exactly. There isn't a single fucking mark on this body, I don't know a single genin that can kill and leave no trace of it on the body, do you?" Sakiko nearly growled.

"...No." Ground out Hironori after several beats of silence.

"Although I do know what fucking killed him." Sakiko said smugly crouching down next to the body to flip it over from where the boy had landing face down on the grounds. The eyes and mouth were open in an eternal expression of shock and fear. "Iryoujutsu: Complete Paralysis. One tap of the hand on the back of the head and the victim is instantly paralyzed from the neck down, including all major organs. With the lungs and heart paralyzed oxygen can't get to the brain, the only part of the body still functioning. The person falls unconscious in about five minutes, after eight the chance of brain damage should the jutsu be reversed is close to eighty percent, after ten or so minutes, that's it, you're fucking dead."

"How do you know so much about Iryoujutsu?" Hironori asked.

"My mother was a medic-nin, you stupid fuck, plus considering my expertise, knowing a little Iryoujutsu is quite handy. It's one of the few jutsus that's used extensively for offense in the medic profession. It's especially useful for assassination." Sakiko stood stiffly from her crouch. "It also happens to be exceedingly difficult to master, that's why I doubt it was done by a fucking genin. Oda, report back to Tsunade-sama. Hironori, take the bodies to the morgue. Fushima-" A crackle as their headsets came alive interrupted Sakiko.

"Kobayashi-san, camera forty just went out." A chuunin spoke through the microphone.

"Fuck. Fushima got get reinforcements. Whoever these fuckers are I want them caught!" With that Sakiko whirled around to race through the trees.

---

Naruto had no real problem with being defeated by a girl, after all, these sorts of things happened, but when that girl happens to be about three years younger than him, seven inches shorter than him, and thirty five pounds lighter than him, that's just embarrassing.

Still with only one arm it was all Naruto could do to stay a few steps ahead of the child that seemed intent on taking his head off. And Naruto wasn't quite sure what it meant whenever her hands started glowing that sickly green color but he wasn't about to find out as he ducked down to avoid one.

Sakura however was trying not to lose her head in another meaning of the phrase. The boy she was fighting did not have to leer at her so, or make such disgusting comments, and the next time she found his hand on her ass it was coming off! To her imminent aggravation however, the boy, who might have been a couple years older than her, was able to fend off everything she threw at him.

Sasuke fared the best against his opponent, another boy a couple years older than him. While he was stronger, and, though Sasuke was loathe to admit it, better trained, Sasuke's speed and Sharingan eyes enabled him to avoid most of what his opponent threw at him and even allowed him to retaliate a couple times, but he knew if they didn't come up with something fast Team Seven was going to lose.

That's about when Sasuke noticed movement in a tree a few yards away from where he and Sakura were engaged in battle, then a small round object came flying towards them and Sasuke did the first thing he could think of, he jumped into a tree.

Which was a pretty smart thing to do as the round object exploded into a cloud of thick gray gas that smelled oddly of burning sugar. Sasuke pulled the collar of his shirt above his nose and mouth.

Sakura instantly crouched down to get below the smoke that was slowly dissipating and at the first wave of dizziness performed a quick jutsu to clear the lungs of toxins.

The two shinobi they had been fighting however weren't fortunate enough to avoid the knockout gas, and both toppled over in a dead faint.

The sound of the small explosion had alerted both Naruto and the girl he was fighting of the new addition. And they had both turned to see the red-headed Sakiko allow herself to fall out of the tree she stood in, to land heavily on the ground in her steel soled boots.

"I have to admit, I was expecting someone older." Sakiko stated as she walked forward, making sure to step on the back of one of the shinobi she had felled. An odd crack came from the vicinity of his ribs as she did so and all of Team Seven winced at her cruel uncaring.

"I wasn't aware that proctors could interfere on behalf of genin from their villages." The child spoke sullenly, pout firmly placed on her lips.

"And I wasn't aware that jounin could enter the exams. But then I didn't exactly read that fucking 'Genin Exam Guidelines and Procedures for Proctors' book. It was about five fucking million pages long you understand." Sakiko told her.

"But, I'm not a jounin, I'm just a little girl." The child wearing a mist headband said, eyes wide and face innocent.

"And I'm a Kage." Sakiko sneered. "I learned a long time ago that age has very little to do with ability."

"Hmph." The girl pouted even more, looking nothing short of ridiculous. "And what on earth makes you think that I am a jounin?"

"Iryoujutsu: Complete Paralysis." Sakiko replied smugly.

"How did you..." The girl snapped out of her pout to look at Sakiko incredulously.

"Little known fact; I'm a fully certified Medic Nin." Sakiko told her plainly.

"I see..." The child trailed off. "But what makes you think that I can perform it?"

"Tell me boy, can you move that right arm?" Sakiko asked, not taking her eyes off the brunette girl in front of her.

"No." Naruto told her, shaking his head.

"And, did she by any chance hit you in the shoulder?"

"Yes." Naruto said, drawing out the word, clearly confused as to where this was going.

"I know of only a small handful of techniques that can paralyze a limb without showing outward damage. All are above the level of genin, aside from Hyuuga Taijutsu, but I sincerely doubt you know anything of that."

"Approximately an hour ago and half a mile from here a genin team from Iwa was assassinated, one by the Complete Paralysis. The camera watching that area was destroyed, in the exact same manner the camera in this area was destroyed. Let's save us all some fucking pain and end this sham, yeah?" Sakiko moved a few steps forward. "You all get the fuck out of here." She directed at Team Seven.

"But what if you need help?" Naruto asked her.

"From a bunch of genin? Yeah right." Sakiko scoffed. "You'll just get in my way."

"What if the other two wake up?" Sakura called to her, pointing at the fallen shinobi.

"They won't." Sakiko said. "Frankly I'm impressed you two managed to avoid it. Now get out of here, or I'll disqualify you from the exams."

Naruto gritted his teeth but turned to leave, confident that Sasuke and Sakura would follow. The two looked at each other, slightly surprised that Naruto seemed so willing to leave a fellow shinobi behind to battle on her own, but they both saw the wisdom in Sakiko's words and so quickly moved past the two females who stood facing off, moving in a wide arch around them.

Sakiko smiled as they left. Glad to have three fewer things to worry about.

"Now, why don't we see if you truly are a prodigy or grossly over-promoted?" Sakiko asked.

"I didn't become a jounin for no reason. Do you really think you can beat me, especially as a medic-nin?" The girl responded angrily.

"No one ever said I was just a fucking medic-nin. Besides, should you be saying that in a village where the Kage is a medic-nin?" Sakiko smirked. "This is my territory fucker, you haven't got a prayer."

**---**

**OMAKE:**

For not being a shinobi Atsuko was very hard to find. Seven hours had been long enough for Naruto to endure his new (not improved) green hair. Now he was going to find Atsuko and make her change his hair back, even if he had to sit on her to get her to do it!

But, as previously mentioned, Atsuko was surprisingly hard to find. He had checked her hotel, the Hokage Tower, the hospital and the ramen stand (he got hungry), and so far all that he had found was an incredibly messy room, a drunk Tsunade, Gai and Lee in traction (their shouts about the youthfulness of his hair still rang in his ears), and the bottoms of four bowls of ramen.

He was about ready to give up and resign himself to wearing hats for the rest of his life when Sakura and Sasuke appeared at his elbow.

"I see your hair is still green." Sakura snickered unkindly.

"Yeah, yeah, laugh it up." Naruto mumbled without heat, letting his head fall forward onto the counter. "I can't find that bitch to turn it back!" His words were muffled by the wood.

"...Did you try the tea shops in town?" Sasuke offered.

"What?" Naruto turned his head to face Sasuke, but didn't lift it.

"Sajiki really likes tea." He told him as though it should be obvious.

"Oh yeah!" Sakura cheered from Naruto's other side. "She's from Tea Country!"

"No, she's not. But she lived there." Sasuke stated.

"Tea shops..." Naruto muttered. "Where would I find tea shops?" He honestly didn't have a clue himself.

"Well, the best tea shop in town is at big shopping arcade right in front of the Tower." Sakura told him.

"Alright! I'm gonna find you now you crazy old bitch!" Naruto leapt from his seat and tore off towards the Tower.

"... Who's gonna pay for his ramen?" Ichiraku asked, staring intently at Sakura and Sasuke.

"Damn it Naruto!" Sakura screamed as she dug in her pockets for the correct amount. "He is so going to owe me."

---

The best tea shop in town was currently in a state of dissarray. Atsuko sat in the center at one of the delicate tables, a dozen or more half drunk tea cups at rest in front of her and most of the staff surrounding her.

"Ugh!" She grunted as she spat out the tea she'd just taken a sip of. "This is the worst yet! You call this a tea shop?"

"This is the finest tea shop in all of Konoha, ma'am." The owner of said shop ground out through clenched teeth. "Perhaps it is not our tea that is inferior, but your taste."

"What was that? How dare you! I come from Tea Country, we know our tea and this is not proper tea!" She waved her cup at him, uncaring when the liquid within sloshed over the sides and onto the floor.

"Ah ha!" A triumphant shout sounded from the door that had just been thrown open. "I found you! Change my hair back right now!" Naruto demanded looking quite rediculous with his bright green hair and serious face.

Atsuko took one look at him and bursted into a hearty gale of laughter.

"Damn, that's as funny now as when I first saw it." She remarked when she had gathered her breath.

"Change. It. Back." Naruto growled at her.

"I already told you, I. Don't. Know. How."

"I thought you were supposed to be a genius or something!" Naruto threw his hands up in exasperation, hitting the owner of the shop (who had come up to ask him to leave) in the face. Naruto ignored him. "You're telling me you can't reverse a seal you made."

"Well, when you put it like that, it's kinda embarrasing, huh?" Atsuko rubbed at her chin in thought. "Alright, I'll change it back. You don't have to be so uptight. I was just having fun with you." She dug around in the sleeve of her jacket and pulled out the slip of paper the seal had been written on. She studied it silently for a few minutes before taking out a blank piece of paper and a stubby pencil. In a few strokes she wrote out a new seal and tossed it at Naruto. "There." she said. "That should change it back."

"Finally!" Naruto shouted as he quickly activated the seal. Once done he looked into one of the mirrors hung around the tea shop to confirm it was the proper color once again. It wasn't. It was a brighter pink than even Sakura's hair.

"ATSUKO!" He yelled as she rolled out of her chair laughing.

---

**Author's Note Reprise: **Ah, the chapter has been beta'ed and I feel much better getting it out. I have no real idea when the next chapter will be out considering I start Chemistry and Anatomy courses soon, but I shall try my best!

I want ideas for Omakes, so if you have one PM me.****

Snicky's Note: Due to a bit of miscommunication (coughcough me not checking my email) this was a tad later than it should have been. FORGIVE ME FOR I HAVE SINNED~~~

**REVIEW OR I'LL EAT YOU! RAWRGH! 120 Reviews Gets An Omake!**


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